Financial pioneer; Deregulation opened the door for this innovative brokerage firm.(P&I at 30: The class of '73)(Charles Schwab & Co)(Company Profile)

Pensions & Investments, October, 2003 by Williams, Fred

Byline: Fred Williams San francisco - Change is an important part of the Charles Schwab & Co. business model, and has been since Charles Schwab bought out his partners in First Commander Corp., San Francisco, and tacked his name on the firm in 1973. Mr. Schwab exploited the 1975 decision by the Securities and Exchange Commission to deregulate brokerage commissions and set up one of the first discount brokerage firms.

He saw commission deregulation as a way to undercut big Wall Street brokers and allow individual investors to buy and sell stocks without pressure from Wall Street. The company since has expanded to become the fourth-largest brokerage firm. It also diversified into mortgages and financial planning, and has become a force in the retirement...

Read the rest of this article with a Free Trial at HighBeam Research.

Premium Content Partnership | HighBeam Research provides an in-depth online archive library of reference works.