Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE: SCHW)

Charles Schwab is the largest publicly traded brokerage firm in the U.S., with about $9 trillion in client assets and 35+ million active accounts. The company completed its $26 billion acquisition of TD Ameritrade in 2020, creating a dominant retail brokerage platform. Revenue is approximately $19 billion. Schwab pioneered discount brokerage in the 1970s and eliminated trading commissions in 2019, forcing the entire industry to follow.

Net interest revenue (earning a spread on client cash swept into bank accounts) is the largest revenue source at ~50%. Asset management fees, trading revenue, and bank deposit account fees make up the rest. The business model depends heavily on interest rates — when rates rise, Schwab earns more on client cash; when they fall, margins compress. The TD Ameritrade integration added scale and trading-active clients.

Charles R. Schwab founded the company in 1971 in San Francisco as a traditional brokerage before pivoting to discount brokerage in 1975. The company went public in 1987. Schwab's decision to eliminate trading commissions in October 2019 triggered a cascade — TD Ameritrade, E*Trade, and others followed within days. The TD Ameritrade acquisition closed in 2020, and client migration completed in 2023-2024.