SAN FRANCISCO - Walter W. Bettinger II will be the new president and chief executive of the nation's largest discount brokerage, Charles Schwab Corp.

Bettinger will replace company founder Charles R. Schwab as CEO on Oct. 1, the brokerage firm announced Tuesday. Schwab said he will remain chairman of the company. Bettinger, who is 47, was named president and chief operating officer in February 2007. The 70-year-old Schwab, one of the wealthiest people in the United States, founded the company in 1971.

It now has $1.4 trillion in assets and more than 7 million individual and institutional clients. The ubiquitous Schwab even figures in the company's advertising, urging prospective investors to "Talk to Chuck."

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