Robert Greifeld (born 1957) is an American businessman and author. He is the former CEO and chairman of

Nasdaq The Nasdaq Stock Market (; National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the U.S. by volume, and ranked second on the list ...

and former chairman of

Virtu Financial Virtu Financial, Inc. is an American high-frequency trading company. The company went public on the Nasdaq in 2015. Organization Based in New York City, Virtu was founded by Vincent Viola, a former chairman of the New York Mercantile Exchange ...

Early life

Greifeld was born in

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, to an

Italian American Italian Americans () are Americans who have full or partial Italians, Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeastern United States, Northeast and industrial Midwestern United States, Midwestern ...

mother and a father of Irish and German descent. He holds a master's degree in business from the

New York University Stern School of Business The Leonard N. Stern School of Business (also NYU Stern, Stern School of Business, or simply Stern) is the business school of New York University, a private research university based in New York City. Founded as the School of Commerce, Accounts ...

, and a B.A. in English from Iona College.

Career

In the 1980s, Greifeld was a district manager for

Unisys Unisys Corporation is a global technology solutions company founded in 1986 and headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania. The company provides cloud, AI, digital workplace, logistics, and enterprise computing services. History Founding Unis ...

Jericho, NY Jericho is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States, approximately 29 miles (47 km) east of Midtown Manhattan. The population was ...

. In 1991 he joined Automated Securities Clearance, Inc. (ACS), becoming president of the company in 1993. While at ACS he spearheaded the creation of BRASS, one of the first electronic stock

order matching system An order matching system or simply matching system is an electronic system that matches order (exchange), buy and sell orders for a stock market, commodity market or other financial exchanges. The order matching system is the core of all electron ...

s, and Brut, an

electronic communication network An electronic communication network (ECN) is a type of computerized forum or network that facilitates the trading of financial products outside traditional stock exchanges. An ECN is generally an electronic system accessed by an electronic trad ...

(ECN). After SunGard Data Systems acquired ACS in 1999, Greifeld was promoted to group CEO of SunGard Brokerage Systems. In 2003, Greifeld succeeded Hardwick Simmons as chairman and CEO of Nasdaq. Under Greifeld, in 2007 Nasdaq attempted a hostile takeover of the

London Stock Exchange The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...

, but their offer was ultimately rejected by shareholders. In 2011, Nasdaq OMX collaborated with

IntercontinentalExchange Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) is an American multinational financial services company formed in 2000 that operates global financial exchanges and clearing houses and provides mortgage technology, data and listing services. Listed on the ...

to attempt a hostile takeover of

NYSE Euronext NYSE Euronext, Inc. was a Transatlantic relations, transatlantic Multinational corporation, multinational financial services corporation that operated multiple Stock exchange, securities exchanges, including the New York Stock Exchange, Euronext ...

, however their bid was withdrawn due to antitrust concerns. In 2016, Nasdaq announced that Greifeld would be succeeded as CEO by Adena Friedman as of January 2017. He continued in the role of chairman until May 2017, at which time he became the chairman of Virtu Financial. In 2019, Greifeld authored the book "Market Mover: Lessons from a Decade of Chance at Nasdaq", chronicling his time at Nasdaq. Greifeld left Virtu in April 2023 to work on launching a tech-focused investment fund, Cornerstone FTM, among other endeavors.

Personal life

Greifeld has resided with his wife and family in

Westfield, New Jersey Westfield is a Town (New Jersey), town in Union County, New Jersey, Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, located southwest of Manhattan. As of the 2020 United States census, the town's population was 31,032, an increase of 716 (+2.4% ...

In 2016, he gave the commencement address at Iona College.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greifeld, Robert 1957 births Living people American chief executives of financial services companies American people of German descent American people of Irish descent American people of Italian descent Businesspeople from Hunterdon County, New Jersey Businesspeople from Union County, New Jersey Businesspeople from Queens, New York Iona University alumni New York University Stern School of Business alumni People from Readington Township, New Jersey People from Westfield, New Jersey