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Bernard (Bernie or Bing) Alan Newcomb (November 10, 1943 – January 29, 2023) was an American businessperson and philanthropist who, along with William A. Porter, founded the online discount stock brokerage firm, E*TRADE. Newcomb was legally blind.

Early life

Newcomb grew up in Scio, Oregon. He was the middle child of Lyle and Agnes (Mazachek) Newcomb. Born with congenital cataracts, Newcomb was always legally blind.

He attended the Oregon School for the Blind from kindergarten through second grade, having to board during the week and return home on weekends. He attended public schools in Scio through high school where he graduated as class valedictorian.

Newcomb was the first in his family to attend college as a business major at Oregon State University, consistently making dean's list and graduating third in his class in the College of Business. Newcomb received his B.A. in Business Administration from Oregon State University in 1965. He was a member of the Delta Sigma Phi fraternity. Upon graduation, he found accounting firms and banks did not consider him employable because of his blindness. His college counselor persuaded General Electric to hire Newcomb in their data processing department at the Hanford Project in Richland, Washington, where he was employed for three years.

Creation of E*TRADE

In 1980, in Palo Alto, California, Newcomb met Bill Porter who had recently purchased an Apple II computer with the idea that a personal computer could be used to buy and sell stock, but having no means of accessing the necessary information with his modem. During the conversation, Porter convinced Newcomb to become partners and create a company that would enable an individual with a personal computer to trade stocks from home—to disintermediate stock buying. Newcomb's role was to develop the programming for the project.

In 1992, PC Magazine featured Trade*Plus on its cover. In 1992, The San Jose Business Journal named Trade*Plus the year's fastest-growing private company in Silicon Valley. In 1996, Trade*Plus was renamed E*TRADE Group and went public. Newcomb was incentivized to retire soon after and established a philanthropic foundation, the Bernard A. Newcomb Foundation.

Later work and charities

In 1997, Newcomb gave Oregon State University the largest stock gift in its history: $6.1 million in stock from the company he helped found and created four new endowments to directly benefit students and academic programs in the College of Business. Each year he would meet with the winners of the Newcomb Family Endowed Scholarship. Additionally, when Weatherford Hall underwent $20 million in renovations in 2004, Newcomb made a $250,000 contribution to name the cyber cafe Bing's, a reference to his childhood nickname. Trader Bing's and the Bernard A. Newcomb Digital Commons in Austin Hall are also named in his honor.

Newcomb co-launched ITXS, an auction site for second-hand IT-related items, with Herb Swanson and Mike Symons in 2000.

Newcomb was awarded the Helen Keller Achievement Award by the American Foundation for the Blind in 2006 for his work to improve the quality of life of the blind.

In 2005 Newcomb donated $5 million to the Peninsula Community Foundation. The Foundation later merged with Community Foundation Silicon Valley to become the Silicon Valley Community Foundation.

Newcomb also donated to Scio High School, Scio, Oregon, in support of its sport programs, specifically football. In 2000, he and his family donated $1.3 million to build a football field, track, stadium (including locker rooms, a weight room, and wrestling room), and parking lot. In 2013, Newcomb donated another $850,000 of the total $1.3 million project cost for the purchase and installation of new artificial turf at the stadium.

Newcomb was also a supporter of the Castilleja School, most recently donating to the renovation of its Gunn Administration Building; the 2nd floor Newcomb Board/Conference Room is named in his honor.

Personal life

On September 11, 1999, Newcomb married Carol J. Kearney in Bend, Oregon. They divorced June 26, 2001. Newcomb married Gerry Lee (Saemisch) Marshall on December 18, 2020, in Los Altos, California. He has no children.

Newcomb lived a quiet life, residing in Palo Alto with his wife until his death at home January 29, 2023, following a long illness.

References

1. "Newcomb Family Endowed Scholarship". College of Business. 2014-10-01. Retrieved 2018-04-06.
2. ^ "E-Trade founder gives $5 million for Peninsula community grants". San Francisco Chronicle, Christopher Heredia, September 2, 2005. August 29, 2010.
3. "Newcomb tells of hard work, perseverance". Corvallis Gazette-Times, Matt Neznanski, February 25, 2008.
4. ^ "Bernard A. Newcomb Donor Profile". American Foundation for the Blind. Archived from the original on 2006-11-30. Retrieved 2007-01-11.
5. "OSU Business College receives $6.1 million stock gift". oregonstate.edu, Don Parker, August 27, 1997.
6. "Bernie Newcomb: Inspiring Hard-Working Students to Succeed". Business Matters, College of Business Alumni News. May 30, 2017.
7. "College of Business Launches Entrepreneurship Program" (PDF). The Exchange, College of Business. 2003.
8. "E*TRADE Co-Founder Launches Auction Click And Mortar". internet.com, Michael Singer, November 10, 2000. Archived from the original on November 3, 2008. Retrieved March 10, 2008.
9. "Donor Profile". afb.org. Archived from the original on 2007-02-14. Retrieved 2007-01-11.
10. "Mid-valley people who left their mark on the world". Corvallis Gazette-Times, Jennifer Moody, April 2, 2009.
11. "Scio high school to dedicate new turf". Salem Statesman Journal, Justin Much, October 1, 2013. Archived from the original on February 1, 2014.
12. "Scio ready to debut its new turf field". Albany Democrat-Herald, Bob Lundeberg, September 5, 2013.
13. "The Beav who founded E*Trade". OSU Foundation, February 24, 2023.
14. Roberts, Sam (4 April 2023). "Bing Newcomb, Whose E*Trade Transformed Stock Trading, Dies at 79". The New York Times.

• American blind people
• Oregon State University alumni
• Businesspeople from Long Beach, California
• Businesspeople from Palo Alto, California
• 1943 births
• 2023 deaths
• Philanthropists from Oregon
• Philanthropists from California