Thomas Petterffy has been ahead of the curve for nearly his entire career. He cameinto the derivatives business as a technology expert for Mocatta Metals, where he learned the ins and outs of financial and commodity markets from Henry Jarecki. As an options trader on the American Stock Exchange, he was one of the first to apply computer models to the valuation of stock options. He developed handheld computers as an aide to floor trading in the early 1980s, far ahead of the rest of the industry. He established Timber Hill as a proprietary trading firm and used his technological edge to make it into one of the leading market making firms in the U.S. options industry. In the 1980s, he began developing a communications network for routing orders to exchanges and stock markets around the world, which became the foundation for the firm that he runs today, Interactive Brokers Group. His drive for efficiency through the application of technology contributed immeasurably to the gradual adoption of electronic trading at U.S. Exchanges and his smart order routing systems created a model for customer execution in a world of competing marketplaces.
