Charles Schwab Has Sold $70M of His Own Stock in Two Weeks
The brokerage founder and Co-Chairman has unloaded 675,000+ shares since January 26, exercising options at $26 and selling at $103-106. Career total: $2.87 billion.
The Founder's Cashout: $70M in 16 Days
Charles R. Schwab, the 88-year-old Co-Chairman and founder of Charles Schwab Corporation (SCHW), sold more than 675,000 shares of company stock between January 26 and February 10, 2026, generating an estimated $70.2 million in proceeds. The sales came through a combination of open-market dispositions and exercise-and-sell transactions, all executed while SCHW traded between $103 and $107.
This burst of selling adds to what is now one of the largest insider selling records in American financial history: $2.87 billion in career sales across 2,964 transactions since SEC electronic filings began in 2003.
Transaction Breakdown: Jan 26 – Feb 10, 2026
| Date | Type | Shares | Avg Price | Est. Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 26 | Exercise + Sell | 134,895 | $103.09 | $13.9M |
| Jan 28 | Exercise + Sell | 71,437 | $103.21 | $7.4M |
| Jan 29 | Sell | 145,650 | $103.16 | $15.0M |
| Feb 3 | Sell | 96,625 | $103.74 | $10.0M |
| Feb 4 | Sell | 67,975 | $103.81 | $7.1M |
| Feb 9 | Sell | 126,200 | $106.55 | $13.4M |
| Feb 10 | Sell | 32,413 | $105.58 | $3.4M |
| Total | 675,195 | $104.04 | $70.2M |
The Options Spread: Exercise at $26, Sell at $103
The January 26 and 28 transactions reveal a classic exercise-and-sell pattern. Schwab exercised stock options with a strike price of $26.39 per share — then immediately sold those shares at market prices above $103. That’s a spread of roughly $77 per share, or a 291% gain on each option exercised.
On January 26 alone, he exercised 134,895 options and sold the same number at $103.09. On January 28, he repeated the playbook with another 89,924 options exercised and 71,437 shares sold. These aren’t panic sells — they’re the methodical execution of a pre-planned compensation strategy.
Scale of Schwab's Career Selling
To understand the magnitude: Schwab has generated $2.87 billion in total sell proceeds from his own company's stock since 2003. Against $31.6 million in purchases, that is a 91:1 sell-to-buy ratio. But context matters — Schwab founded the company in 1971 and took it public in 1987. His selling is the natural byproduct of a 55-year founder position.
The 2025 selling cadence was consistent: $10.2M in February, $4.4M in March, $3.0M in April, $13.2M in August, and $10.3M in October. The January-February 2026 burst at $70M represents a notable acceleration, though it follows the same daily-drip pattern Schwab has used for years.
Still Holds 30.5 Million+ Shares
After all recent sales, Schwab still directly holds roughly 30.5 million shares of SCHW, worth approximately $3.2 billion at current prices. Including indirect holdings across trusts and family accounts, the total is closer to 55-56 million shares. The selling, while large in absolute terms, represents less than 2% of his total position.
Schwab also gifted 60,000 shares on February 9 — a transaction coded “G” in SEC filings that typically signals charitable donations or transfers to trusts. Combined with his October 2025 gifts of 50,000+ shares, this suggests active estate and philanthropic planning alongside the sales program.
The Side Bet: Local Bounti (LOCL)
Interestingly, Schwab’s Form 4 filings also reveal a 10%+ ownership stake in Local Bounti Corporation (LOCL), a controlled-environment agriculture company. He purchased over 10 million shares at $2.00 per share in March 2025 and added 550,000 more in August. This $20M+ investment in a micro-cap ag-tech company offers a rare glimpse of where the brokerage billionaire is putting fresh capital — even as he steadily exits his namesake firm.
What to Watch
- 10b5-1 plan status — The regularity of these sales strongly suggests a pre-arranged trading plan. Any amendment or termination would be filed with the SEC.
- Q4 2025 earnings follow-through — Schwab reported strong results in January. The selling ramped up after earnings, not before.
- Continued cadence — At the current pace of ~$70M per two-week stretch, Schwab could sell another $150-200M before the next earnings blackout.
- LOCL developments — With Schwab as a 10%+ holder, any material change at Local Bounti would require additional Form 4 disclosures.
Track all of Charles Schwab’s insider transactions on his 13F Insight profile, or view institutional holders of SCHW on the stock detail page.
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