Thomas Peterffy
| Thomas Peterffy | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 1944 (age 72) Budapest, Kingdom of Hungary |
| Residence | Palm Beach, Florida, US |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Alma mater | Clark University |
| Occupation | Founder, chairman, and CEO of Interactive Brokers |
| Known for | Developing electronic trading of securities |
| Net worth |
 US$13.8 billion (April 2017) |
| Spouse(s) | Divorced |
| Children | 3 |
Thomas Peterffy (born 1944) is a Hungarian-born American entrepreneur. He is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. and played a key role in founding the Boston Options Exchange. Peterffy worked as an architectural draftsman after emigrating to the United States and later became a computer programmer. In 1977, Peterffy purchased a seat on the and played a role in developing the electronic trading of securities. He is the largest shareholder of his company, Interactive Brokers.
Thomas Peterffy was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1944, in a hospital basement during a Russian air raid. He left his engineering studies and emigrated to the United States as a refugee in 1965. When he moved to New York City, he did not speak English. He eventually earned a bachelor's degree from Clark University.
Peterffy began his career in the US as an architectural draftsman working on highway projects for an engineering firm. It was at this firm that he volunteered to program a newly-purchased computer, ultimately shaping the course of his future. Of his background in programming Peterffy said, "I think the way a CEO runs his company is a reflection of his background. Business is a collection of processes, and my job is to automate those processes so that they can be done with the greatest amount of efficiency."
Peterffy left his career designing financial modelling software and bought a seat on the to trade equity options. During his career in finance, he has consistently pushed to replace manual processes with more efficient automated ones. He would write code in his head during the trading day and then apply his ideas to computerized trading models after hours. Peterffy created a major stir among traders by introducing handheld computers onto the trading floor in the early 1980s. His business related to his AMEX seat eventually developed into Interactive Brokers.
In 1999, Peterffy was influential in persuading the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that US options markets could be linked electronically, which would ensure that investors receive the best possible options prices. He has also testified before the United States Senate Banking Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance, and Investment about adding banking regulations.
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