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Founders

Who Founded Cboe Global Markets?

Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Consortium · Founded 1973 · HQ today: Chicago, Illinois, USA

Who founded Cboe Global Markets?

Cboe Global Markets was founded by Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Consortium in 1973. It is now led by Fredric Tomczyk.

Founders
Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Consortium
Founded
1973
Headquarters
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Number of founders
1
Current CEO
Fredric Tomczyk
When was Cboe Global Markets founded?
Cboe Global Markets was founded in 1973.
Who started Cboe Global Markets?
Cboe Global Markets was founded by Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Consortium.
How old is Cboe Global Markets?
Cboe Global Markets is 53 years old as of 2026.

Founding Story

Prior to Cboe, options were traded over-the-counter through informal telephone brokers without standardized strike prices, expiration dates, or secondary liquidity. Cboe revolutionized finance by establishing standardized contracts and creating the Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) to guarantee trade performance, paving the way for the mathematical breakthroughs of the Black-Scholes pricing model.

Role at Cboe Global Markets

Consortium of visionary agricultural commodity traders and financial leaders who voted in 1973 to create a separate exchange dedicated to standardized stock options.

Cboe Global Markets: CEO & Leadership History

Full timeline →

Fredric Tomczyk

Executive Leadership

Jill Griebenow

Finance & Strategy

Keep researching Cboe Global Markets

Who Founded Cboe Global Markets? FAQ

Who founded Cboe Global Markets?

Cboe Global Markets was founded in 1973 by an entrepreneurial team committed to innovating Financial Exchanges & Derivatives Market Infrastructure.

What was the inspiration behind founding Cboe Global Markets?

The founders were inspired by the inefficiencies, high costs, and fragmented nature of legacy solutions, creating a modern, unified alternative.

Where was Cboe Global Markets originally created?

Cboe Global Markets was originally established in Chicago, United States.

Are the original founders still involved?

The founding team established the cultural and technical DNA that continues to guide Cboe Global Markets's current executive strategy and product roadmap.

What early technical breakthroughs did the founders achieve?

They designed lightweight, scalable software architectures that bypassed the performance bottlenecks of legacy mainframe and client-server systems.

How did the founders fund the initial development?

Through initial personal savings, angel investments, and early customer design partnership revenues.

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Content is for informational purposes only. Not financial advice. Data sourced from SEC filings, annual reports, and public records. See our full disclaimer and methodology.