Charles Schwab

Schwab's revolutionary approach to success in the face of adversity
Since its founding in 1973, Schwab has led the full-brokerage market by stressing customer service. Today, Schwab has established itself as a company with a unique identity: old-fashioned integrity meets technology-empowered financial services. Charles Schwab tells the compelling story of this organization's uncanny ability to reinvent itself around an unchanging set of core values. This book is organized into five sections, each representing a critical juncture for the company when it was forced to reinvent itself or be consumed. Along the way, Kador highlights Schwab's immutable laws, direct from the Chairman and CEO: 1) Create a cause, not a business; 2) the corporate vision is only as good as the values of its culture; 3) welcome upheaval. In the whirlwind economic environment we currently face, Charles Schwab provides readers with valuable lessons on how businesses can survive and thrive in any situation. Introduction.

PART ONE: LEVELING THE PLAYING FIELD.

Chapter 1. May Day.

Chapter 2. Opening Investment.

Chapter 3. Building the Brand.

Chapter 4. Innovation.

Chapter 5. Branchland.

Chapter 6. Advice and Advisors.

PART TWO: PROFILES IN CRISIS.

Chapter 7. Forsaken IPO.

Chapter 8. Birthright.

Chapter 9. Market Crash.

Chapter 10. Margin Call.

Chapter 11. Earthquake.

Chapter 12. OneSource.

Chapter 13. Heart Attack.

Chapter 14. eSchwab.

PART THREE: CUSTODIAN OF UNEASY DREAMS.

Chapter 15. Balance of Power.

Chapter 16. Schwab Mythology.

Chapter 17. Unfinished Business.

Epilogue Schwab Account.

Appendix 1: Charles Schwab & Co. Timeline.

Appendix 2: Charles R. Schwab's Employment Agreement.

Source Notes.

Bibliography.

Index.

JOHN KADOR is the author of four books, including Net Ready: Strategies for Success in the E-conomy (with Amir Hartman and John Sifonis)—a Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, and New York Times business books bestseller. Kador is a freelance writer for a number of business publications, and is curently working on a book about healthcare with Hank McKinnell, the Chaiman and CEO of Pfizer, Inc. Charles Schwab

HOW ONE COMPANY BEAT WALL STREET AND REINVENTED THE BROKERAGE INDUSTRY

"This book tells the exciting story of how Charles Schwab revolutionized the financial services industry and shook up Wall Street forever. It is also an essential read for any aspiring entrepreneur."
—Jon Friedman, CBSMarketWatch.com

"A roller coaster ride of how industry-defining, world-changing businesses are built. John Kador shows us the legend behind the myth of Charles Schwab."
—Christine Comaford Lynch, General Partner, Novus Ventures

Charles Schwab: How One Company Beat Wall Street and Reinvented the Brokerage Industry combines a fascinating look inside the walls of one of today's great financial services firms with a razor-sharp portrait of the deeply principled maverick who drove that firm from vision to reality. Both highly entertaining and brutally honest, it paints a compelling picture of the company that brought stock investing to Middle America—and shook the staid brokerage industry to its core.