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Sincerely,

J. Joe Ricketts, Chairman and Founder

The Evolution of Ameritrade For 26 years, AmeritradeHolding Corporation has been the champion of the self-directed investor. We have been innovators, creating toolsthat enable individuals to make their own investmentdecisions, and to act efficiently and effectively to carrythem out. We were one of the first companies to rec-ognize and utilize the Internet to make the Ameritradevalue proposition available to more Americans. I amproud to have contributed to this revolution, and tohave guided Ameritrade as we expanded the frontiersof investing.

I have seen markets rise and fall and rise again. I remem-ber the good securities markets of the 1960’s. I startedthis company right after the recession of 1973-1974, andlived through the steep recession of 1981-1982 and thedramatic fall of October 19, 1987. Through each of thesemarket cycles, Ameritrade has prospered by being aninnovator and a low-cost producer, focusing on theneeds of the individual investor.

All recessions are different, but they all bring change,which fosters opportunity and rewards the adapters andinnovators. As with past recessions, Ameritrade is usingthis period of change to grow and prosper.

This past year, we continued to innovate and leveragetechnology to provide better value and choice for ourclients. We added new products, reorganized aroundspecific client needs in a new segmentation strategyand acquired two outstanding companies. This was alldone while we were strengthening our balance sheet.However, I think the most important decision that wasmade during the year was to add new executives suchas Joe Moglia to fill out our executive ranks. Joe and hismanagement team are one of the most capable andseasoned executive teams in the brokerage industry. Joejoins Ameritrade after a successful 17-year career as atop executive with Merrill Lynch. Your Board of Directors

and I worked diligently over the last several years toassemble this team. Since he joined Ameritrade, Joe hasreorganized and galvanized a group of senior execu-tives, who share his optimism and enthusiasm, and arecarrying it forward throughout our organization. I amvery excited to work with Joe, our Executive ManagementTeam and all of our employees in the coming years tocapture the enormous opportunities that lie ahead. Iknow that this is just the beginning of great things tocome from Joe and these additional executives.

We are now at the beginning of the next generation ofAmeritrade’s business cycle. As we emerge from the firstrecession in a decade, we are not content to sit idly byand wait for the market to recover. We are makingaggressive decisions to make money now and positionAmeritrade more effectively for the future.

We’re a company that understands our industry, theintricacies of the online brokerage business and what ittakes to succeed. We are leveraging this knowledge toeffectively serve each client segment—thereby enablingus to rapidly and profitably gain market share.

As a fellow shareholder, I want you to know that I feela sense of urgency to capitalize on opportunities nowthat will yield results both in the near- and long-term.We are committed to profitability and have built an infra-structure to support that commitment in virtually anymarket condition. I assure you, I will do everything in mypower to take advantage of the growth potential in ourindustry and Ameritrade’s leadership position within it.

There is no doubt in my mind where we are headed asa company. With the capabilities we have developed,the market position we are growing and the quality ofour people, Ameritrade is on track to becoming theundisputed leader in our industry, as measured by themost meaningful yardstick of all—the value we provideour clients and deliver to our shareholders.

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