PEAK6

PEAK6 holds options for days or even years, not the microseconds of a typical market maker, managing a long and short inventory while supplying liquidity to the US options market. Those trading profits became seed money for a sprawl of other businesses.

Jenny Just and Matt Hulsizer, both out of Chicago's O'Connor and Associates, started the firm in 1997 at the Board of Trade with $1.5 million. The options book funded stakes well beyond trading: Apex Fintech Solutions in clearing and custody, insurance ventures, financial-education startup Zogo, even the Evil Geniuses esports team. The trading arm, PEAK6 Capital Management, remains a classic prop options shop; the holding company around it has turned into a fintech and investment platform. Headquarters has moved to Austin, though the Chicago office endures.