Yass is the founder of Susquehanna International Group, a proprietary trading firm. The Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania-based company makes markets in financial products and asset classes with a focus on derivatives. It also invests in private equity and venture capital. Yass also has a minority stake in ByteDance, the developer of TikTok.
Jeff Yass's net worth of $33.4B can buy ...
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Yass's fortune is derived from assets and proceeds associated with Susquehanna International Group, a market-making and proprietary trading firm headquartered in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.
Yass is credited with 51% of the firm, based on its March 2022 form ADV filing that indicates Philadelphia Trading Inc owns a stake of between 50-75%. Yass is the sole director and principal of Philadelphia Trading Inc., according to Florida corporate filings.
Susquehanna's annual revenue is calculated at $7.2 billion based on it having about 2,500 employees and the average revenue-to-employee multiple of a basket of competing market-making and proprietary trading firms. The business is valued using the average enterprise-to-value multiple of publicly-traded peers Virtu Financial Inc. and Flow Traders.
Susquehanna also owns about 15% of ByteDance, the tech firm that developed social media app TikTok, based on an October 2020 Wall Street Journal report and adjustments for dilution from subsequent funding rounds. Yass is credited with half of that stake based on his ownership of Susquehanna.
ByteDance offered to buy back its shares at a $300 billion valuation in September 2022, according to a Bloomberg News report. A 25% discount is applied to the $300 billion valuation in this analysis because of volatility and uncertainty about future value.
A June 21, 2022 report in Propublica based on leaked tax returns detailed more than $11 billion in income Yass collected between 2009 and 2018. That income is used to calculate the value of his other assets, including adjustments for taxes and market performance.
Jonathan Gasthalter, a spokesman for Yass, said the billionaire declined to comment on his net worth.
Jeff Yass was born and raised in New York City, the son of two accountants. Encouraged by his father, he took an interest in stocks and gambling at an early age. His first stock purchase was food company Campbell after enjoying one of their TV dinners.
He attended college at the State University of New York Binghamton. While there he frequently played poker and bet on horse races, and bonded with a group of friends with similar interests who he'd eventually go on to found Susquehanna with. His thesis concerned whether options added value to society.
After graduating he moved to Las Vegas to become a professional gambler, but soon decided to move to Philadelphia to become an options trader. He was supported by Israel Englander, the founder of Millennium Management, who helped him buy a seat on the Philadelphia Stock Exchange.
In 1987 he founded Susquehanna International Group along with five of his college friends. The firm began as an options market-maker, but now trades in a wide variety of financial asset classes, as well as offering sports and political betting derivatives. It also has venture capital and private equity groups that invest the firm's capital.