Robert Greifeld

Greifeld was born in Queens, New York, to an Italian American mother and a father of Irish and German descent.^[1] He holds a master's degree in business from the New York University Stern School of Business, and a B.A. in English from Iona College.

In the 1980s, Greifeld was a district manager for Unisys in Jericho, NY. In 1991 he joined Automated Securities Clearance, Inc. (ACS), becoming president of the company in 1993.^[2] While at ACS he spearheaded the creation of BRASS, one of the first electronic stock order matching systems, and Brut, an electronic communication network (ECN).^[3][4]

After SunGard Data Systems acquired ACS in 1999, Greifeld was promoted to group CEO of SunGard Brokerage Systems.^[2]

In 2003, Greifeld succeeded Hardwick Simmons as chairman and CEO of Nasdaq.^[5] Under Greifeld, in 2007 Nasdaq attempted a hostile takeover of the London Stock Exchange, but their offer was ultimately rejected by shareholders.^[6] In 2011, Nasdaq OMX collaborated with IntercontinentalExchange to attempt a hostile takeover of NYSE Euronext, however their bid was withdrawn due to antitrust concerns.^[7][8]

In 2016, Nasdaq announced that Greifeld would be succeeded as CEO by Adena Friedman as of January 2017.^[9] He continued in the role of chairman until May 2017, at which time he became the chairman of Virtu Financial.^[10][11]

In 2019, Greifeld authored the book "Market Mover: Lessons from a Decade of Change at Nasdaq", chronicling his time at Nasdaq.^[10][12]

Greifeld left Virtu in April 2023 to work on launching a tech-focused investment fund, Cornerstone FTM, among other endeavors.^[13][14]

Greifeld has resided with his wife and family in Westfield, New Jersey^[15][16] In 2016, he gave the commencement address at Iona College.^[17]