Trading & Options · Profile from Trading and Options Research Companion
Charles Schwab and thinkorswim
The incumbents' answer to app brokers. Charles Schwab built the US discount brokerage after fixed commissions ended on 1 May 1975; fifty years later, through the TD Ameritrade acquisition (announced 25 Nov 2019, closed 6 Oct 2020, ~$26bn in stock), it also owns thinkorswim, the options-and-futures platform that Tom Sosnoff and Scott Sheridan founded (1999, Wikipedia — per the tastytrade profile) and sold to TD Ameritrade in a deal valued at ~$606m (announced 8 Jan 2009; thinkorswim then led "the industry in retail options trades placed each day", ~37,000 a day — TD Ameritrade release). Schwab bought a second options broker, optionsXpress, for ~$1.0bn in stock (announced 21 Mar 2011, completed 1 Sep 2011), cut online stock, ETF and options-base commissions to zero on 7 Oct 2019 while keeping a $0.65 per-contract options fee (reported), and moved thinkorswim and the TD Ameritrade clients onto Schwab in 2023. For this knowledge base Schwab matters because it is where most US retail options and futures trading that is not on an app happens, and because its filings show what that flow is worth: order flow revenue of $1,930m in 2025 (up from $1,404m in 2023) within trading revenue of $3,921m, and 7.7m daily average trades in 2025 (10-K, FY2025). Its oldest trading lesson is from Black Monday: a single client's options default cost the newly public firm ~$22m in October 1987 (reported). The business as a whole — the bank, cash sorting, client assets of ~$13.33tn — is in Finance: Charles Schwab; this profile takes the trading angle and keeps every shared figure equal.
At a glance
- Founded
- 1971 in San Francisco as First Commander Corporation; renamed Charles Schwab & Co. 1973; discount brokerage from May 1975 (Finance KB). thinkorswim founded 1999 (Wikipedia, per the tastytrade profile) by Tom Sosnoff and Scott Sheridan (founders named in TD Ameritrade's 2009 release)
- Headquarters
- Westlake, Texas (Finance KB); thinkorswim's roots in Chicago (company profiles list Chicago headquarters — secondary)
- Ownership / structure
- Public (NYSE: SCHW) since Sep 1987; savings and loan holding company supervised by the Federal Reserve; broker-dealer Charles Schwab & Co.; futures through a Schwab futures commission merchant (verify entity name); TD Bank sold its last 10.1% stake on 12 Feb 2025 (Finance Shared facts)
- Leadership (2026)
- Rick Wurster, CEO since 1 Jan 2025; Chuck Schwab and Walt Bettinger, co-chairmen (Schwab announcement of 1 Oct 2024, as reported by InvestmentNews and PlanSponsor)
- Trading platforms
- schwab.com and the Schwab app; thinkorswim desktop, web and mobile ("Schwab Trading Powered by Ameritrade offers access to the thinkorswim suite" — 10-K FY2025); futures and forex for eligible clients (10-K)
- Scale (dated)
- 38.5m active brokerage accounts and $11.90tn client assets at 31 Dec 2025 (10-K); client assets ~$13.33tn at 30 Sep 2026 (Finance Shared facts); daily average trades 5.9m (2024), 7.7m (2025), 8.3m in Q4 2025 (10-K)
- Trading revenue (audited)
- Trading revenue $3,230m (2023), $3,264m (2024), $3,921m (2025); of which order flow revenue $1,404m / $1,477m / $1,930m (10-K FY2025). Total net revenues $23,921m (2025) (10-K)
- Regulators
- SEC and FINRA (broker-dealer); CFTC and NFA (futures); Federal Reserve (holding company); OCC clearing membership for options (verify clearing arrangement)
- Signature moves (incl. failures)
- Discount brokerage (1975); Black Monday client options default (1987); TD Ameritrade buys thinkorswim (2009); optionsXpress (2011); zero commissions with a per-contract options fee (2019); TD Ameritrade and the PFOF inheritance (2020); the PFOF rule fight (2022–25); thinkorswim migration (2023)
8 strategic moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
1975
Discount Brokerage for Self Directed Traders
Founding / pricing change
1987
Black Monday Client Options Default
Counterparty loss (failure)
2009
TD Ameritrade Buys thinkorswim
Acquisition
2011
optionsXpress Acquisition
Acquisition
2019
Zero Commissions and the Per Contract Options Fee
Exchange listing, product or fee change (broker pricing)
2020
TD Ameritrade Deal and the PFOF Inheritance
Acquisition / market-structure bet
2022
PFOF Rule Fight and Order Flow Revenue
Regulatory and legal action (rule proposal and withdrawal)
2023
thinkorswim Migration to Schwab
Technology and platform integration