Chief Executive Officer & Co-Chairman, Charles Schwab Corporation Common Stock
Charles Schwab CEO Walt Bettinger on retirement: 'Incredibly excited' to turn it over to Rick
Charles Schwab CEO Walt Bettinger and President Rick Wurster join 'Squawk Box' to discuss news of Bettinger retiring as CEO at the end of December after 16 years leading the brokerage firm, whether there will be any immediate change in strategy, impact of the Fed's interest rate decision on the company, and more.
About Walter Bettinger
Walter Bettinger retired as CEO of Charles Schwab at the end of 2024 after 16 years in the role, with president Rick Wurster succeeding him. Bettinger said he had targeted 2025 for retirement, noting that his youngest child had left for college and that the integration of TD Ameritrade had been completed. He described the transition as a "big day" for the firm and expressed confidence in Wurster, whom he called a "talented executive with great integrity." Bettinger continued as executive co-chairman of Schwab's board alongside founder Charles Schwab. In April 2025, Bettinger joined private equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) as a senior adviser. He said he was drawn to the firm's focus on operational excellence, noting that "around 80% of the value that the firm has generated over the years has been through operational improvement." Bettinger stated that CD&R is particularly focused on the insurance, wealth management, and retirement sectors, citing "the massive wealth transfer taking place in an aging society."
Transcript (14 segments)
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Interviewer0:10
Welcome back, everybody. Charles Schwab just announced this morning that the CEO Walt Bettinger is going to be retiring from that role at the end of the year. That comes after 16 years leading Schwab. The current president, Rick Wurster, is going to be taking over. Walt and Rick both join us this morning right here on set. Gentlemen, welcome. This is a big day for both of you. Walt, first of all, congratulations with what you have done with this company. I think it's worthy of sitting back and taking note of this. You stepped into the company in 2008, in the midst of a financial crisis. Not the best time to be stepping in, but what happened along the way. It's been phenomenal to see the rise of Schwab over these last 16 years.
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Walter Bettinger0:54
Well, with thanks, Becky. Thanks for the opportunity to be here. Over these 16 years, it's been a great honor to see our client base grow from 7 million to over 40 million, and of course, clients entrusting us with now almost $10 trillion. It's been a wonderful time as CEO, and I'm incredibly excited now to turn it over to a talented executive with great integrity in Rick Wurster.
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Interviewer1:34
Rick, you have been the presumed next CEO for, I guess, the last several years, since you were named president. You have been through a number of different positions here. The company is coming into probably another transition, at least that's the read from the outside. Walt's made a number of changes since 2008. What do you see the next transition for the company being?
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Rick Wurster1:54
The transition — I don't think there will be a transition. It's a farmer in Iowa that's farmed for 40 years trying to retire. It's a grandmother that's saved to be able to take a visit to see their grandchild. And every one of those clients is dear to us, and we'll continue doing what we've done for the last 50 years, which is stand beside them, deliver for them, and help them in their financial life.
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Interviewer2:32
I should run through that. Walt, under $10 trillion in assets under management, that comes from $1 trillion. 40 million clients, from 9 million clients. A huge build out in terms of building out the brokerage, already the largest publicly traded brokerage, you're now the 12th largest bank. And you are somebody who was an entrepreneur before that happened. At 22, you started your own retirement firm, Hampton Professional Issues.
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Walter Bettinger3:10
I had always targeted 2025 as a time to retire. I'll be turning 65. My wife and I's youngest daughter, our fifth child, just went off to college six weeks ago. We're empty nesters. That seems like a new chapter. From a professional side, we wrapped up the integration of Ameritrade early this past summer. And it was really important to me to be here through that integration, to see that through, from negotiating the deal, working it, to approval with regulators and through the very successful integration. And then maybe most importantly, again, bring it back to Rick. Having an executive like Rick who's ready to step into this role, who's tested, who's proven, someone that I have incredible confidence in. And I just look forward to being a decision maker in Rick. And that's exciting to me and I know it's exciting for our team here at Schwab.
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Interviewer4:18
Rick, what has the Fed lowering interest rates meant for the company? Because the stock is down 6% over the year-to-date. It's up 20% over the last year. But there have been questions about how you make easy money at this point. Before, it was from being able to take the clients' assets that were there and bank on some of those things. How does the new rate regime change things for you?
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Rick Wurster4:45
The biggest benefit of the rate change recently has sent markets up. That's good for our clients. We're in business to support them and help to get them where they want to be in their financial journey.
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Interviewer5:10
You upended the brokerage business by going to no fee with a lot of these things. How do you make your money?
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Rick Wurster5:17
Wealth is a big business for us. We're seeing record flows into wealth. There is a bull market for advice. More and more clients we find want our help and guidance. They want someone to assist them, thinking through how they're going to get to where they want to be in their financial journey. We think we're a great place for that, and we also support 15,000 independent advisers who are also acting as a fiduciary and providing advice. Whether it's an independent adviser or it's us, there's a bull market for advice in our country.
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Interviewer5:45
How do you plan to grow that business from here? Is it organically? Is it through acquisitions?
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Rick Wurster5:51
We've grown it organically and we'll continue to grow it organically.
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Interviewer6:10
What does that mean for y'all? For y'all when volatility goes up with the brokerage business and with our clients?
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Rick Wurster6:17
We've seen a lot of trading activity. Our trading activity has been roughly 6 million trades a day, which is a high level for a firm. And so our clients are active.