Charles.R.

Schwab

AT A GLANCE
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Age: 74 Residence: Atherton, CA Country of citizenship: United States Education: BA/BS, Stanford University; MBA, Stanford University Marital Status: Married Children: 5

WHO? Charles R. "Chuck" Schwab (born July 29, 1937) is the founder and chairman of
the Charles Schwab Corporation.

WHAT? Today, the company serves 7.9 million client brokerage accounts, with $1.36 trillion in
assets (as of September 2010), from over 300 offices in the U.S., one office in Puerto Rico, and one branch in London.Clients can also access services online and by te lephone.

EDUCATION BACKGROUND ? He attended Santa Barbara High School in Santa Barbara, CA

and was captain of the golf team. He also attended pre-college school at Holy Rosary Academy in Woodland, California. Schwab graduated from Stanford University in 1959 with a B.A. in Economics. In 1961 he graduated from Stanford Graduate School of Business with an MBA. Schwab is a knight of the Sigma Nu Fraternity.

HIS STRATEGIES/ADVICES/QUOTES ON STOCK MARKET AND INVESTMENTS

 I did all kinds of things as a young person to try to make money. I had a chicken operation I sold chickens. I can remember going to high school football games as a ten-year-old and gathering CocaCola bottles, 'cause you'd turn them in and get a nickel. I wanted not to remain idle. If there's not enough money in the bank account, you don't spend it.

 

I had not much to risk because I didn't have much to begin with. Never invest short and borrow long.

I don't know whether you like Amazon or not, but they've done an incredible thing for the consumer. Brought the cost of books down, the distribution, the Kindle. It certainly hurt local bookstores, but, you know, that's the way of the world. I can cook almost anything. It's always a little strange I'm always the only guy in a cooking school. I got ten women in there and me. But it's a big part of our life, and I thought, I better understand more about it.That's how I learned a lot about investing you just have to do it yourself. I try to tell everyone here, "Man, you've gotta taste the food." Nothing goes out the door here at Schwab unless I've tasted the food. I never perceived of myself as stupid; I cant explain why. I just thought that if I worked harder, maybe something would happen.

We brought prices down, down, down so they are now essentially commodities. So if we want to succeed in this business, we have to move in a direction of adding other value to the relationship with our clients. And so where I might have said 15 years ago, 'We want to be the best discount brokerage,' today I want to be the best 'relationship company' in financial services. You've got to understand that markets go both ways, up and down. Over longer periods, stocks generally have always gone up. Im sure luck helps every successful entrepreneur. But it doesnt come without a lot of preparation and hard work.

 

We get emotional and do dumb things. I can't overemphasize that we have the right kind of client-relationship people who really have the interests of the client at hand first not second, but first. We are willing to risk short-term revenue to do the right thing for the customer and ensure long-term success.

At the end of every day, having a clientele that speaks well of you, thats the largest source of business. I don't care what kind of business you're in. Clients referring us to their friends or relatives is so much more powerful than any advertising we could ever do.

Youve got to start with your gut, with something you are really passionate about, for a good reason. You wont get there by sitting in a closet and thinking, Boy I know the world must want this. When I read, I can feel myself converting the written code into sounds before I can process it. Fast readers don't go through all that.

Along the way, Ive frustrated some of my associates because I could see the end zone of a particular thing quicker than they could, so I was moving ahead to conclusions. I go straight from step A to Z, and say: This is the outcome. I can see it. I like to think in terms of giving people an understanding of why they should have the same passion as I do why their life has purpose working here and why they should believe as much as I believe. I want them to seek a higher level of satisfaction above just making a salary.

 

I feel good every day about helping people invest; helping them achieve financial independence. Its about the American dream.