The acquisition of Forge by Schwab signals to the market that private company equity is a real asset class.

Forge plans to add Schwab's 46 million investors to its platform, which currently has about 3 million investors.

New financial products, such as interval funds from firms like Robinhood, are being created to allow unaccredited investors to invest in portfolios of private companies like SpaceX with minimums as low as $500.