Who Owns Your Broker? The Complete Guide to Broker Acquisitions

In February 2020, Morgan Stanley announced it would acquire E*TRADE Financial Corporation for approximately $13 billion in an all-stock deal — the largest acquisition by a major Wall Street bank since the 2008 financial crisis. The deal closed in October 2020.

The strategic rationale was clear: Morgan Stanley wanted a direct-to-consumer retail investing arm to complement its institutional and wealth management businesses. E*TRADE brought 5.2 million client accounts and $360 billion in client assets. Morgan Stanley brought institutional-grade research, brand prestige, and a massive balance sheet.

In November 2019, Charles Schwab announced it would acquire TD Ameritrade for approximately $26 billion in an all-stock deal — the largest brokerage merger in U.S. history. The deal closed in October 2020, and the full client migration was completed in 2023.

The combined entity created a brokerage giant with over $7 trillion in client assets and 28 million active brokerage accounts. For Schwab, the acquisition was primarily about scale and acquiring thinkorswim — TD Ameritrade's legendary trading platform that had become the gold standard for active traders and options specialists.

The oldest and largest of the three deals: Bank of America acquired Merrill Lynch in January 2009 for approximately $50 billion during the height of the 2008 financial crisis. The deal was controversial at the time — BofA CEO Ken Lewis faced significant shareholder pressure — but it ultimately created one of the most powerful integrated banking and brokerage platforms in the world.

Merrill Edge — the self-directed retail brokerage — was launched in 2010 as a direct product of the merger. It didn't exist before the acquisition. The idea was to give Bank of America's 67+ million retail banking customers a seamless path to investing, with the Merrill Lynch brand providing credibility and institutional research access.