Forge Global

Forge Global built a marketplace and registered broker-dealer platform matching buyers and sellers of private company shares, offering both direct share purchases and pooled fund vehicles for eligible investors, with typical transaction fees in the 2.5-5% range and deal timelines of 30-90 days.

Forge went public via a SPAC merger and traded on the NYSE before Charles Schwab agreed to acquire the company; the deal, announced in late 2025 at roughly $660 million ($45 cash per share), completed on March 2, 2026.

Under Schwab, Forge's marketplace becomes part of a much larger brokerage's effort to give its client base direct access to private-company shares — one of the clearest signs yet of secondary marketplaces moving from niche fintech into mainstream retail brokerage infrastructure.