Thomas Peterffy Biography

Thomas Peterffy (born 1944) is a Hungarian-born American entrepreneur. He is the founder and head of Interactive Brokers (Nasdaq: IBKR) and played a key role in founding the Boston Options Exchange. Peterffy worked as an architectural draftsman after immigrating to the United States and later became a computer programmer. In the 1970s, Peterffy purchased a seat on the American Stock Exchange and played a key role in developing the electronic trading of securities.

Early life and career

Thomas Peterffy was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1944, in a hospital basement during a Russian air raid. He emigrated to the United States as refugee in 1965 to escape communism. Peterffy abandoned engineering studies when he emigrated. When he first moved to New York City, he did not speak English.

Peterffy began his career in the United States 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 abandoned his career designing financial modelling software and bought his own seat on the American Stock Exchange to trade equity options. During his career in finance he has consistently pushed to replace manual processes with more efficient automated ones. Peterffy 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. Peterffy's business related to his AMEX seat eventually developed into Interactive Brokers.

Regulatory influence and political views

During the 2012 United States presidential campaign, Peterffy created political ads in support of the Republican Party. Peterffy bought millions of dollars of air time on networks such as CNN, CNBC, and Bloomberg. The ads consist of a minute-long spot narrated by Peterffy that warns against creeping socialism in the United States. The ads were considered remarkable in part because Peterffy is not a candidate and did not buy the ads through a "527 group" but instead paid for them directly.

In the spot Peterffy said, "America's wealth comes from the efforts of people striving for success. Take away their incentive with badmouthing success and you take away the wealth that helps us take care of the needy. Yes, in socialism the rich will be poorer -- but the poor will also be poorer. People will lose interest in really working hard and creating jobs." Peterffy did not directly mention Mitt Romney or Barack Obama, but clearly favored the former.

Peterffy's ad received mixed responses. Joshua Green, writing for Bloomberg, said that, "[t]he ad, while slightly ridiculous, is deeply sincere and also quite affecting." Green also asked Peterffy whether the comparison between the United States and Hungary made in the ad was a fair one: "[Peterffy] couldn't really think that the U.S. was turning into socialist Hungary, could he? The government isn't suppressing speech and throwing political opponents in jail. No, he conceded, it wasn't. But it sure feels like that's the path we're on." Politico reported that the ad was "being hailed as one of the best spots this election cycle", and said that it could have been influential in Ohio due to its large Hungarian population.

Voter registration records in Connecticut show that Peterffy is registered as an independent voter. Campaign contribution records show that he donated at least $60,000 to the Republican National Committee in 2011 and that over the past few years has mostly donated to Republican candidates.

He has testified before the United States Senate Banking Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance, and Investment about adding banking regulations.

Interactive Brokers

See Interactive Brokers for more information Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. (IB) is an online discount brokerage firm in the United States. The company traces its origin to 1977 when Peterffy bought a seat on the American Stock Exchange as an individual market maker, and formed T.P. & Co. the following year. IB consists of many subsidiaries operating on most major stock, futures, bonds, forex, and options exchanges worldwide. The company commenced a public offering on 4 May 2007 under the ticker symbol on the Nasdaq exchange. Barron's Magazine stated in 2009 that Interactive Brokers maintains a position as "the least expensive trading venue for investors", and has held the ranking as the lowest cost broker for five straight years. An analysis of their on-line website, however, indicates many higher charges than traditional brokers (e.g., borrow rates based on security prices rounded up to the nearest dollar, as opposed to industry standard of just 102% or price, etc.)

OneChicago

See OneChicago for more information OneChicago is an all-electronic exchange owned jointly by IB Exchange Group (IB), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and CME Group. It is a privately held company that is regulated by both the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The OneChicago corporate headquarters is located in the Chicago Board of Trade Building in Chicago's financial district. OneChicago offers approximately 2,272 single-stock futures (SSF) products with names such as IBM, Apple and Google. All trading is cleared through Options Clearing Corporation (OCC). OneChicago currently operates the only U.S. based securities futures marketplace.

Boston Options Exchange

See Boston Options Exchange for more information

Peterffy was involved in the founding of the Boston Options Exchange (BOX). BOX is an automated stock exchange owned and operated by the TMX Group. As an equity options market, it provides electronic order matching services to stockbrokers and traders. BOX was founded in February 2002 by the Boston Stock Exchange, Bourse de Montréal, and Interactive Brokers. In August 2008 BOX began operations as a subsidiary of the Montreal Exchange, it increased its equity position to 53.2 percent. Its equity partners include Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Interactive Brokers, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, UBS and Citadel Derivatives Group LLC.

BOX offers price improvement to traders through its patent-pending Price Improvement Period automated trading mechanism. PIP allows clients with broker guarantees on the first penny of price improvement a small period to improve upon available prices. In June 2007, BOX was named U.S. options exchange of the year by Futures and Options World Magazine. CEO R. Scott Morris attributed BOX's success to the PIP algorithm, noting the "$110 million in savings to investors because of our price improvement model."

Wealth

As of September 2012, he is worth US$4.6 billion. He is the 77th richest person in the United States, and the 3rd richest in Connecticut. He is divorced with three children. He is an avid equestrian. He lives in Greenwich, Connecticut. As of March 2012, Peterffy is the 189th wealthiest billionaire in the world with a net worth of $5.4 billion.