The 2017 Trading Tech 40: Chris Isaacson

2017-03-trading-tech-40-chris-isaacson-small.jpg

< Wall Street’s Nerds: The World’s Most Powerful Trading Executives

2017-03-trading-tech-40-chris-isaacson.jpg

2. Chris Isaacson
Chief Information Officer
CBOE Holdings
Last Year: 3

Under the terms of the $3.4 billion merger that CBOE Holdings negotiated with Bats GlobalMarkets last September and completed on February 28, all CBOE businesses and products — including the Chicago Board Options Exchange, the largest U.S. options market; and the vaunted CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) — will run on Bats’s technology. That’s music to the ears of Chris Isaacson, global chief information officer at Bats and now CIO for the combined entity. “I’ve been very blessed to have been part of the team that started Bats,” the 38-year-old says. “Now I get to see us move on to the next phase with CBOE acquiring us and migrating to the Bats platform.”

The sleek, world-class exchange platform of Bats, which was launched in Lenexa, Kansas, in 2005 by a 13-person team spun out of high frequency trading shop Tradebot Systems, is a far cry from the man-powered markets where Isaacson’s father, a pig and grain farmer, traded futures to hedge against changes in livestock prices. The younger Isaacson first learned to code at Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln and graduated in 2001 with a bachelor’s in information systems. The Loomis, Nebraska, native received an MBA in computer science and management in 2003 from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, where he learned skills for managing large-scale software projects.

He says his team is “laser-focused” on his biggest project yet: moving CBOE onto Bats systems. Rebounding from its failure to complete an initial public offering in 2012, Bats had a strong 2016 that included a successful IPO in April at the high end of its price range. “It’s always a momentous day for a company when it goes public, but it’s not every day a company goes public on its own exchange,” Isaacson says. Recalling the roots of Bats, he adds, “We understood what the most demanding of our trading members would require because we were one of them. So we developed a platform that could satisfy the most demanding. That ethos has been driving the firm until today with the merger, and going forward I think it will remain essential to our success.”


The 2017 Trading Tech 40

2017-03-trading-tech-40-richard-prager-thumb.png

1. Richard Prager
BlackRock

2017-03-trading-tech-40-chris-isaacson-thumb.png

2. Chris Isaacson
Bats Global Markets

2017-03-trading-tech-40-bradley-peterson-thumb.png

3. Bradley Peterson
Nasdaq

2017-03-trading-tech-40-brad-levy-thumb.png

4. Brad Levy
MarkitSERV

2017-03-trading-tech-40-dan-keegan-thumb.png

5. Dan Keegan
Citi

2017-03-trading-tech-40-glenn-lesko-thumb.png

6. Glenn Lesko
Bloomberg Tradebook

2017-03-trading-tech-40-bryan-durkin-thumb.png

7. Bryan Durkin
CME Group

2017-03-trading-tech-40-mayur-kapani-thumb.png

8. Mayur Kapani
Intercontinental Exchange

2017-03-trading-tech-40-mike-blum-thumb.png

9. Mike Blum
KCG Holdings

2017-03-trading-tech-40-raj-mahajan-thumb.png

10. Raj Mahajan
Goldman Sachs Group

2017-03-trading-tech-40-ronald-depoalo-thumb.png

11. Ronald DePoalo
Fidelity Institutional

2017-03-trading-tech-40-nick-themelis-thumb.png

12. Nick Themelis
MarketAxess Holdings

2017-03-trading-tech-40-jenny-knott-thumb.png

13. Jenny Knott
NEX Optimisation

2017-03-trading-tech-40-billy-hult-thumb.png

14. Billy Hult
Tradeweb Markets

2017-03-trading-tech-40-robert-park-thumb.png

15. Rob Park
IEX Group

2017-03-trading-tech-40-bill-chow-richard-leung-thumb.png

16. Bill Chow & Richard Leung
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing

2017-03-trading-tech-40-mack-gill-thumb.png

17. John Mackay (Mack) Gill
MillenniumIT

2017-03-trading-tech-40-paul-hamill-thumb.png

18. Paul Hamill
Citadel Securities

2017-03-trading-tech-40-eric-noll-thumb.png

19. Eric Noll
Convergex

2017-03-trading-tech-40-veronica-augustsson-thumb.png

20. Veronica Augustsson
Cinnober Financial Technology

2017-03-trading-tech-40-tyler-moeller-joshua-walsky-thumb.png

21. Tyler Moeller & Joshua Walsky
Broadway Technology

2017-03-trading-tech-40-alasdair-haynes-thumb.png

22. Alasdair Haynes
Aquis Exchange

2017-03-trading-tech-40-gaurav-suri-thumb.png

23. Gaurav Suri
Arcesium

2017-03-trading-tech-40-manoj-narang-thumb.png

24. Manoj Narang
Mana Partners

2017-03-trading-tech-40-michael-chin-neill-penney-thumb.png

25. Michael Chin & Neill Penney
Thomson Reuters

2017-03-trading-tech-40-robert-sloan-thumb.png

26. Robert Sloan
S3 Partners

2017-03-trading-tech-40-anton-katz-stephen-mock-thumb.png

27. Anton Katz & Stephen Mock
AQR Capital Management

2017-03-trading-tech-40-donal-byrne-thumb.png

28. Donal Byrne
Corvil

2017-03-trading-tech-40-stu-taylor-thumb.png

29. Stu Taylor
Algomi

2017-03-trading-tech-40-alfred-eskandar-thumb.png

30. Alfred Eskandar
Portware

2017-03-trading-tech-40-steven-randich-thumb.png

31. Steven Randich
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority

2017-03-trading-tech-40-r-cromwell-coulson-thumb.png

32. R. Cromwell Coulson
OTC Markets Group

2017-03-trading-tech-40-peter-maragos-thumb.png

33. Peter Maragos
Dash Financial

2017-03-trading-tech-40-john-fawcett-thumb.png

34. John Fawcett
Quantopian

2017-03-trading-tech-40-donald-ross-iii-thumb.png

35. Donald
Ross III
PDQ Enterprises

2017-03-trading-tech-40-jennifer-nayar-thumb.png

36. Jennifer Nayar
Vela Trading Technologies

2017-03-trading-tech-40-dan-raju-thumb.png

37. Dan Raju
Tradier

2017-03-trading-tech-40-susan-estes-thumb.png

38. Susan Estes
OpenDoor Trading

2017-03-trading-tech-40-david-mercer-thumb.png

39. David Mercer
LMAX Exchange

2017-03-trading-tech-40-oki-matsumoto-thumb.png

40. Oki Matsumoto
Monex Group


Related