E*Trade CEO Roessner Replaced by COO Pizzi
E*Trade Financial Corp. Chief Executive Karl Roessner stepped down after less than three years at the helm on Wednesday.
Roessner, who became CEO in September 2016 after serving as E*Trade’s general counsel for seven years, will stay on to advise the company until the end of the year.
He will be replaced in the top spot by Chief Operating Officer Michael A. Pizzi, effective immediately, the company said. Pizzi has been with E*Trade since 2013, serving as chief financial officer and chief risk officer before becoming COO.
A spokeswoman at E*Trade, an online broker-dealer whose banking affiliate arm brought the company close to failure during the financial crisis, declined to comment on the reason for the leadership change.
“Karl steadfastly served our Company through some of its most turbulent times, guiding it into the thriving institution it is today, which is in no small part due to his positive influence and passion for E*TRADE,” company chairman Rodger A. Lawson said in a statement.
Roessner last year engineered the purchase of Trust Company of America, which has been renamed E*Trade Advisor Services and is the seed for the company’s plan to service registered investment advisers. Like competitors Charles Schwab Corp., TD Ameritrade Holdings and Fidelity Investments, the company services retail investors directly through discount services as well as independent advisers (“institutional”) who execute client trades through the firms.
“[W]e reclaimed our mantle as the undisputed home for active and derivative traders, put our brand squarely back on the map as the irreverent challenger, and reignited growth across our retail and institutional channels,” Roessner said in a prepared statement.
The departure comes a month after TD Ameritrade chief executive Tim Hockey said he is leaving the company by the end of February next year.
