Billionaire Charles Schwab sees $2.9bn wiped off net worth amid SVB fallout

The wealth of the founder of the eponymous discount broker is down more than that of any other US billionaire this year

Charles Schwab's fortune has declined by $2.9 billion since March 8, the steepest drop since he appeared on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index a decade ago. Bloomberg

Charles Schwab, the billionaire founder of the eponymous discount broker, has seen his wealth plunge the most as pain spreads across the banking world following the collapse of SVB Financial Group.

Mr Schwab, 85, has had $2.9 billion erased from his fortune since March 8, the steepest drop since he appeared on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index a decade ago.

His net worth is down more than that of any other US billionaire this year and now stands at $9.99 billion, making him the world’s 183rd-richest person.

Shares in his eponymous broker are down 32 per cent since Wednesday’s close, including a 12 per cent decline on Monday, as traders assess which institutions might be at risk from the forces that felled SVB.

Similar to the California lender shut by regulators on Friday, the broker has a large investment securities portfolio and significant paper losses in its held-to-maturity books.

Unlike SVB, most of Charles Schwab’s customer deposits are insured.

Mr Schwab’s 23 per cent wealth decline since March 8 is rare among billionaires in the typically staid finance industry.

The three-day wipeout has only been exceeded three times by those billionaires who Bloomberg classifies as making their money through finance: Dan Gilbert, the founder of Rocket Cos, who lost 37 per cent in March 2021; Pollyanna Chu, formerly Hong Kong’s richest woman, whose fortune plunged 31 per cent in early 2018; and Leaf Hua Li, the founder of Futu Holdings, who saw 24 per cent of his wealth wiped out in April 2021.

The majority of Mr Schwab’s net worth comes from his stake of about 6 per cent in the broker he founded in 1971.