Charles Schwab (SCHW) CEO Walt Bettinger is retiring as boss of the largest publicly-traded brokerage after helping the money manager survive a searing crisis in 2023.
The company announced the decision Tuesday, saying in a statement that the 64-year executive will step down at the end of the year and be replaced by Schwab President Rick Wurster in January.
Bettinger has been in charge since 2008. He joined Schwab in 1995 when the asset manager acquired his firm, The Hampton Company.
“Serving the clients, employees and stockholders of Schwab as CEO for the past 16 years has been the honor and privilege of my more than 40-year business career,” Bettinger said in the statement.
The firm's executive co-chairman Charles R. Schwab, who founded the company that bears his name in 1971, added that "Rick Wurster is ideally prepared to assume the duties as our next CEO” and “possesses all the attributes to be a successful CEO.”
Bettinger will continue serving as executive co-chairman of the board of directors along with Charles R. Schwab.
Schwab’s stock fell more than 1% following the CEO announcement as investors mulled the shift. Year to date, the stock is down more than 7%.
During Bettinger’s time as CEO, the Westlake, Texas-based company expanded its assets under management ninefold, to $9.74 trillion, and acquired rival TD Ameritrade.
It also joined other rivals in offering zero commission trading for stocks, options and exchange traded funds, as part of a seismic move by the money management industry to lower the costs of entry for customers.
But last year was perhaps Bettinger’s most challenging as CEO as Schwab struggled during a banking crisis that tested a number of financial institutions across the US and resulted in several sizable failures.
Interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve pushed down the value of Schwab’s debt securities portfolio just as customers in its cash sweep program began moving their money to higher-yielding investments.
After the dramatic failure of Silicon Valley Bank in March 2023, investors punished Schwab as they scrutinized other institutions showing any signs of weakness.
Bettinger offered assurances on CNBC and told The Wall Street Journal the company would still operate even if it lost most of its deposits.
The company then cut employees and office space, just as it was moving millions of TD Ameritrade customers to its platform. Schwab’s annual profits, meanwhile, fell 29%.
This year, Schwab has made steps to move further outside of traditional banking.
During the company's last earnings call in July, Bettinger indicated that the company planned to increase its use of third-party banks in order to shrink its overall balance sheet to reduce its capital needs that called for borrowing during times of stress.
"These various actions should lead, again over time, to a bank that is somewhat smaller than our bank has been in recent years, while retaining the ability to meet our clients' banking needs, lower our capital intensity and importantly protect the economics we are able to generate from owning a bank," Bettinger said at the time.
The company is also looking to offer customers more products within the alternative investment space and rolled out an alternatives platform in May.
“Walt’s successful tenure as CEO saw the most significant growth in the company’s history in terms of clients, assets, revenue, profits, and market capitalization,” Charles R. Schwab said in the company's statement.
“He has earned the right to determine the timing of his retirement as CEO.”
David Hollerith is a senior reporter for Yahoo Finance covering banking, crypto, and other areas in finance.
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