Wally Weisenborn was a leading figure in the Chicago futures trading community for more than two decades before his retirement in 2000. He began his career at Harris Bank in 1953 and worked there for more than 25 years.
From 1969 to 1979, he was the head of the bank's commodities, securities and agribusiness division, and under his leadership the bank became one of the principal financial backers for the Chicago exchanges and clearing organizations and a leading banker for Chicago’s clearing firms, at a time when the futures markets were undergoing a period of explosive growth.
In 1980 he moved into the futures brokerage business, starting with Shatkin Trading and then LIT America. During his time at LIT, the company acquired several other futures trading companies, including Goldberg Securities, Rialcor and G.H. Miller, and it became the largest brokerage and clearing firm at the Chicago Board of Trade and a major presence at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board Options Exchange. After LIT was acquired by First Options, he joined Quantum, a futures brokerage subsidiary of ING, as its president in 1994.
During his career, Wally served on many industry committees, including as a member of the CBOT board of directors and as chairman of the exchange's business conduct committee. He also served on the FIA board for five years and the board of the National Futures Association for 16 years.
