Thomas Peterffy
| Net worth | $82.9 billion Forbes 2026 list, March 24, 2026[1] |
|---|---|
| World rank | 23rd (Forbes 2026)[1] |
| Source of wealth | Interactive Brokers (discount brokerage) |
| Companies | Interactive Brokers (founder, chairman, largest shareholder) |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Born | September 30, 1944, Budapest, Hungary |
| Education | New York University (attended) |
| Known for | Pioneer of electronic trading |
| Net worth figures are estimates by the source named and change every day. | |
Thomas Peterffy is a Hungarian-born American businessman who founded the online brokerage Interactive Brokers and is its chairman and largest shareholder.[2] On the Forbes 2026 billionaires list, a snapshot taken on March 24, 2026, he was 23rd in the world with an estimated $82.9 billion.[1]
Net worth
- November 2025: about $109 billion, 18th in the world.[2]
- March 2026: $82.9 billion, 23rd on the Forbes list.[1]
How the fortune was made
Peterffy was born in Budapest in 1944, during an air raid. He left his engineering studies and moved to New York in 1965 to join his father.[2] He started as an architectural draftsman, volunteered to program his firm's new computer, and became a programmer.[2] In 1977 he bought a seat on the American Stock Exchange and helped develop the first electronic trading platform for securities.[2] In the early 1980s he caused a stir by bringing handheld computers onto the trading floor.[2] The business built on his exchange seat grew into Interactive Brokers, which went public on the Nasdaq on May 4, 2007.[2]
Sources
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Forbes, "Thomas Peterffy", 2026 World's Billionaires list (snapshot of March 24, 2026), read November 3, 2026. Net worth is a Forbes estimate.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Wikipedia, "Thomas Peterffy", read November 3, 2026. Billionaire Wiki's text is written in its own words; facts are checked against this article and its sources.