Schwab is the chairman of Charles Schwab Corp., a discount brokerage that has about $3.77 trillion in client assets. He owns almost 10 percent of the business, which provides financial services to individual investors, independent managers and retirement plans. The publicly traded company was founded by Schwab in 1971.
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The majority of Schwab's fortune is derived from his 9.5% stake in Charles Schwab Corp., the discount brokerage he founded in 1971. He owns the shares through trusts, partnerships and his spouse, according to the company's 2019 proxy statement and an October 2019 Form 4.
The company has $3.77 trillion in client assets as of Sept. 30, 2019, according to its website.
Since the company's initial public offering in 1987, Schwab has collected more than $2.8 billion from share sales and dividends, based on an analysis of Bloomberg data. The value of his cash investments is based on these proceeds as well as insider transactions, market performance, charitable giving and taxes.
Schwab declined to comment on his net worth through a company spokesperson.
Born in 1937, Charles Schwab was 26 when he started an investment newsletter that would serve as the precursor to one of the largest financial service companies in the U.S. He founded First Commander Corp. in 1971, which took over publication of the newsletter and also began a securities brokerage. The company was renamed Charles Schwab & Co. two years later.
After the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission deregulated parts of the brokerage industry, Schwab pioneered the discount brokerage business, eventually building the company's asset base to more than $1.5 trillion. He sold shares in a public offering in 1987.
Schwab and one of his five sons suffer from dyslexia. His charitable organization, the Charles Schwab Foundation, has been active in helping children with dyslexia and other neurological disorders.