Charles Schwab CEO Walt Bettinger to retire at end of 2024, Rick Wurster to replace him

Charles Schwab CEO Walt Bettinger is retiring from his role at the end of December after 16 years leading the brokerage firm, the company announced Tuesday.

Bettinger will be replaced on Jan. 1, 2025, by Charles Schwab President Rick Wurster. Bettinger will remain as the co-chair of Schwab’s board.

In a statement, Bettinger cited his 65th birthday next year as a reason to step aside and praised the choice of Wurster.

“The Schwab Board’s thoughtful and disciplined approach to succession planning helps make this transition smooth. Rick Wurster and I have worked together on a daily basis for more than eight years. I have complete confidence in his leadership, and I am thrilled that the Schwab Board of Directors has selected him as my successor,” the statement said.

In an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Wurster indicated that there would not be any immediate change in strategy with the CEO handoff.

“I don’t think there will be a transition in the sense that we’re going to continue what we’ve been doing, which is deliver for our clients and delight them,” Wurster said.

Since Bettinger took over in 2008, the company’s client assets have grown to $9.74 trillion from $1.14 trillion, and client brokerage accounts have grown to more than 43 million from fewer than 10 million. This growth is due in part to Schwab’s acquisition of TD Ameritrade, which closed in 2020.

Bettinger said on “Squawk Box” that the integration of Ameritrade was completed earlier this year and was another reason that he thought this was a good time to step aside from the CEO role.

Schwab’s stock has gone up roughly 150% during Bettinger’s tenure, which began in the middle of the financial crisis, but it has underperformed the broader market over the past two years.

“I often say that not many CEOs halve their company’s stock price in the first 90 days, but that was pretty much what I walked into in the financial crisis,” Bettinger said on “Squawk Box.”

Shares of Schwab fell 1.4% Tuesday as the broader stock market declined.