The Founder of Charles Schwab Just Sold $70M of His Own Stock. Wall Street Still Says Buy.

Charles R. Schwab, the 87-year-old founder and co-chairman of Charles Schwab Corp (SCHW), sold approximately $70.3 million of company stock between January 26 and February 10, 2026 — exercising options at $26.39 and flipping shares at $103–$106 in what amounts to the largest two-week selling sprint by a SCHW insider in recent memory.

He wasn’t alone. Co-Chairman Walter Bettinger sold $33.8 million of SCHW shares in the same period, while family member Carolyn Schwab-Pomerantz offloaded another $10.4 million. In total, SCHW insiders have made 35 sales and zero purchases over the past six months.

The Selling: $70M in Two Weeks

Schwab’s recent activity follows a clear pattern: exercise deep-in-the-money options, then immediately sell the acquired shares on the open market.

Date	Action	Shares	Price	Est. Value
Jan 26	Exercise + Sell	134,895	$103.09	$13.9M
Jan 28	Exercise + Sell	71,437	$103.20	$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	$13.5M
Feb 10	Sell	32,413	$105.58	$3.4M

The options were struck at $26.39 per share — meaning Schwab realized roughly a 4x gain on every exercised share. Despite the selling, he still holds approximately 30.5 million shares indirectly, worth an estimated $2.9 billion at today’s price of $95.70. His career sell total at SCHW now stands at $2.87 billion across 2,964 transactions since 2003.

Why Now? Record Earnings Changed the Calculus

The selling began five days after Charles Schwab Corp reported record Q4 2025 results on January 21. The numbers were unambiguous:

• Net revenue: $6.3 billion (up 19% year-over-year, a company record)
• Net income: $2.5 billion, or $1.33 per share GAAP ($1.39 adjusted) — beating consensus estimates of $1.32
• Client assets: $11.90 trillion, the largest of any U.S. retail wealth manager
• Q4 core net new assets: $163.9 billion; full-year organic growth of 5.1%
• Dividend raised: quarterly payout increased to $0.32 from $0.27
• FY2026 guidance: EPS of $5.70–$5.80

Crucially, this was the first quarter where the long-dreaded “cash sorting” headwind — clients moving cash out of low-yield sweep accounts into higher-yielding alternatives — had fully dissipated. The multi-year integration of TD Ameritrade was officially declared complete, and management began pivoting publicly toward “Agentic AI” advisors and private market access for retail clients.

For a founder sitting on deep-in-the-money options, record earnings and a stock near its 52-week high of $107.50 created an obvious window.

Not Just Schwab: The Entire C-Suite Is Selling

What elevates this beyond a single founder monetizing options is the breadth of insider selling at SCHW:

Insider	Role	Shares Sold (6 mo)	Est. Value
Charles R. Schwab	Co-Chairman, Founder	898,732	$90.1M
Walter W. Bettinger	Co-Chairman	324,924	$33.8M
Carolyn Schwab-Pomerantz	Family	104,407	$10.4M
Peter J. Morgan III	General Counsel	57,611	$6.0M

That’s $140 million in combined insider sales, with zero purchases, over six months. Bettinger’s most recent sale on February 6 cut his holdings by 11.3% to 529,346 shares. Insiders collectively own approximately 6.3% of SCHW.

The Bull Case: Analysts Disagree with the Insiders

Despite the wave of insider selling, Wall Street remains firmly bullish. Of 21 analysts covering SCHW, 18 rate it Buy, 2 Hold, and just 1 Sell. The median price target is $122 — implying 29.7% upside from the current price of $95.70. The most aggressive target comes from Morgan Stanley’s Michael Cyprys at $148.

Barclays reiterated its Buy rating on March 1, citing the completed TD Ameritrade integration, stable net interest margins, and the company’s position as the largest custodian for independent registered investment advisors (RIAs).

The stock has pulled back 12.5% from its 52-week high of $107.50 since the insider selling began. That decline partially explains why Schwab’s later sales (Feb 9–10) were at $105–106 rather than the $103 range where he started — the stock briefly recovered before fading again.

Institutional holders have been moving the other direction: Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management increased its stake by 4.7% in Q3 to 3.4 million shares, and the firm’s own Charles Schwab Investment Management remains one of the largest asset managers in the U.S. with billions in client assets managed through Charles Schwab Trust Bank.

Key Facts

Metric	Value
Career Sell Value	$2.87B
Shares Held (indirect)	~30.5M
Total Transactions	2,964
Last Transaction	February 10, 2026
SCHW Current Price	$95.70 (as of March 3)
52-Week Range	$65.88 – $107.50
Analyst Consensus	Strong Buy, $122 median target

For the full transaction history and insider profile, see Charles R. Schwab’s page on 13F Insight. Schwab also holds positions in companies outside the firm — most notably a $25.6 million buy stake in Local Bounti (LOCL), a vertical farming company, accumulated since 2021.

What Investors Should Watch

• Schwab’s remaining option grants — He exercised at $26.39, suggesting older tranches. If additional options are expiring, expect more exercise-and-sell activity in coming months.
• Bettinger’s next move — The co-chairman has cut his position by 23% since last year. Further selling would reduce insider ownership below 6%, a level institutional investors watch closely.
• SCHW buyback program — After pausing buybacks during the TD Ameritrade integration and the 2023 mini-banking crisis, any resumption would offset insider selling pressure on the float.
• Q1 2026 earnings — Management guided $5.70–$5.80 EPS for FY2026. If Q1 tracks above that run rate, it validates the post-integration growth thesis. If it misses, the insiders look prescient.
• “Agentic AI” rollout — Schwab flagged AI-powered advisory tools as a growth driver. Execution against Vanguard and Morgan Stanley will determine whether the $11.9 trillion asset base keeps compounding.