< The 2017 Tech 40

32. Neal Pawar
Chief Technology Officer
AQR Capital Management
Last year: 38

Open sourcing, or freely allowing computer code to be tested and enhanced by developers, is embraced almost everywhere these days. It's a value that Neal Pawar has instilled in AQR Capital Management in his three years as chief technology officer. Pawar doesn't take all the credit, though. He says the Greenwich, Connecticut-based firm was open sourcing, in a sense, from its start in 1998. For example, its website has a "Cliff's Perspective" section for regular postings by managing and founding principal Clifford Asness, and a library page that says, "Our mindset is to share our discoveries and insights to advance the collective wisdom of the world's investment community." Pawar, 45, leads a team of more than 200 technologists on the mission of identifying and deploying the systems, technologies, and tools best suited to AQR's highly quantitative needs. That means keeping pace with its growing business: AQR's $187.6 billion in both traditional and alternative assets under management as of March 31 was an increase of 22 percent year-over-year, while its employee count of 793 was a 23 percent increase. The firm has also added new capabilities in such areas as cloud computing and advanced analytics through data visualization.

 
The 2017 Tech 40

1. Adena Friedman NASDAQ 2. Catherine Bessant Bank of America Corp. 3. Robert Goldstein BlackRock 4. Jeffrey Sprecher Intercontinental Exchange Sponsored Podcast- Capturing Alpha: A Bridge Between Quantitative and Fundamental Disciplines Sponsored by Fidelity Investments October 21, 2025 5. Lance Uggla IHS Markit

6. Shawn Edwards & Vlad Kliatchko Bloomberg 7. David Craig Thomson Reuters 8. Michael Spencer NEX Group 9. Don Callahan Citigroup 10. Elisha Wiesel Goldman Sachs Group

11. Michael Bodson Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. 12. Terrence Duffy CME Group 13. Charles Li Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing 14. Sean Belka Fidelity Investments 15. Chris Concannon CBOE Holdings

16. Guy Chiarello First Data Corp. 17. Steven Lieblich Citadel 18. David Rutter R3CEV 19. Blythe Masters Digital Asset Holdings 20. Alfred Spector Two Sigma Investments

21. Neil Katz D.E. Shaw Group 22. Lee Olesky Tradeweb Markets 23. Richard McVey MarketAxess Holdings 24. David Gledhill DBS Bank 25. Seth Merrin Liquidnet Holdings

26. Antoine Shagoury State Street Corp. 27. Peter Brown & Robert Mercer Renaissance Technologies 28. Lou Eccleston TMX Group 29. Peter Cherecwich Northern Trust Corp. 30. Mike Chinn S&P Global Market Intelligence

31. Chris Corrado London Stock Exchange Group 32. Neal Pawar AQR Capital Management 33. Gary Norcross Fidelity National Information Services 34. Steven O'Hanlon Numerix 35. Sebastián Ceria Axioma

36. Brian Conlon First Derivatives and Kx Systems 37. Tyler Kim MaplesFS 38. Michael Cooper BT Radianz 39. Robert Schifellite Broadridge Financial Solutions 40. Jim Minnick eVestment