Why Charles Schwab’s CEO strives for “less revenue per dollar.”

At the dawn of the financial crisis, Walt Bettinger took over as president and CEO of Charles Schwab from the company’s founder and namesake. “It was an intense period. At that point in time, your actions weren’t likely to change the trajectory of your company,” Bettinger said. But under his leadership, he did change one of America’s largest banks, taking it to an even larger scale. With millions of new accounts holding trillions of dollars, the company has seen record growth and earnings. He sat down with us to explain why, despite this growth, his company makes less profit off every dollar invested than its competitors — and why he takes pride in that.