May 28, 2025

 

As Chris' daughter, coworker of 35 years, and Culture & Communications Officer of the firm, I've appointed myself (with Chris' blessing) the honor of making the announcement that, despite being as healthy and vibrant as ever, after sixty-three years in the securities business and fifty-five years at Christopher Weil & Company, Inc. (which Chris founded in 1990, as well as its predecessor firm in 1970), Chris Weil has stepped down as Chairman of Christopher Weil & Company, Inc. (“WEIL”) and is retiring from his position at the firm. He retains a place at WEIL as our (beloved) Chairman Emeritus.

 

Chris is widely known for his entrepreneurial spirit, but in his early life it did not immediately reveal itself. His first forays into paid work included selling newspapers on the corner of Ventura & Laurel Canyon in his hometown of Studio City, babysitting the children of minor (and some not so minor) celebrities, and serving in the Navy, in active duty as, ultimately, a Signalman First Class, then a reservist and a recruiter. After giving birth to their first child, his young wife suggested Chris explore more lucrative vocational opportunities. At the time, Chris was extremely well-versed in philosophy, where virtually no lucrative vocational opportunities existed. So although he knew nothing about finance, he decided to take a position with the pioneering mutual fund company Investors Diversified Services (IDS). It was there that his aptitude for selling, investing, and speculating announced itself. And he was off and running.

 

In 1970, at the age of thirty-three, Chris made the relatively courageous (maybe hubristic) decision to open his own firm. Despite a few scorching baptisms-by-fire, by the early-80s, with the help of some great employee talent, Chris grew a firm with expertise in trading stocks and bonds, alternative energy partnerships, and syndicated private investments in mini-warehouses and other real estate. There was also some dabbling in financial planning. In 1985, Chris sold WEIL and stayed on as Chairman of the Board. But by 1989 he found himself drawn back to the personal relationships of a small firm. It was then that the current WEIL, the successor of the original Christopher Weil & Company, Inc., was reimagined.

 

The reimagining of WEIL took place on the vanguard of changes in the securities industry that still stand today. Many practitioners were moving toward a fee-based (as opposed to the standard commission-based) compensation so as to better align their interests and incentives with their clients. Sophisticated expertise in financial advisory combined with investment management was replacing services that had been split between multiple providers. And an overall fiduciary duty was replacing what had been mostly transactional relationships. Chris’ prescient decision to adopt these emerging methods is the foundation of what the firm is today, thirty-five years on.

 

Despite the fact that Chris turns eighty-eight in July, those of you who know him may find the news of his retirement a bit of a surprise. WEIL has always been Chris’ passion project and he never had any intention of retiring. But in the last ten or so years, Chris has been drawn more and more to philanthropy, particularly in education, in cultivating borrowing opportunities for businesses in under-resourced communities, and in creating more affordable housing for San Diego families. In this next chapter of Chris’ vocational life, this is where he’ll be focusing his time, talent, and treasure.

 

Chris is a graduate of University of California, Los Angeles and Director of the Patricia & Christopher Weil Family Foundation. He served on the Audit Committee of the Jacobs Family Foundation/Jacobs Center for Community Innovation. Previously, he served as a UCSD Foundation Board Trustee, as Treasurer and on its Investment/Finance and Executive Committees. He is a member of the Preuss School UCSD's Founders' Circle, UCSD ArtPower PowerPlayers and UCSD's Arts and Humanities Dean's Advisory Council. For many years, Chris served on the Board of Mainly Mozart, including as its board president. He was the co-chair of the campaign to endow the Cecil Lytle Chair in African and African-American Music. In 2021, Chris and his wife Pat were awarded the UCSD Chancellor’s Medal, one of UC San Diego’s highest honors for leaders whose longstanding contributions and involvement have supported students, advanced meaningful research, and transformed the university.

 

Chris and Pat will celebrate sixty-five years of marriage in June. They live in Del Mar, California, have three adult children (all of whom have either worked for in the past, or currently work for WEIL) and five adult grandchildren.

 

While Chris is very much alive and well, his legacy at WEIL is now memorialized. His vision has resulted in a thriving wealth management and financial advisory firm which has attracted an exceptionally talented and dedicated team. This group, comprising individuals from thirty-five-year veterans to three-year “newbies” and everyone in between, has been instrumental in the firm’s daily operations and success for years, and is perfectly poised to carry WEIL confidently into the future.

 

With sixty-three years in the business, fifty-five years of owning his own company, thirty-five years of working in this current, what almost feels like, perfected version of that reimagined business, doing right by Chris’ legacy is a tall order. Fortunately, the solution is in the fundamentals. Chris’ work has always been defined by his optimism and creativity, in surrounding himself with good people, and in doing what he loves. In at least these four ways, every day, we at WEIL will continue to honor the name on the door and everything Chris accomplished to get us here.

 

Submitted (with love) by Kit-Victoria (Weil) Wells