Jeffrey Craig Sprecher(/ˌsprɛkər/,SPREK-ər,born February 23, 1955) is an American businessman, the founder,chairman,andCEOofIntercontinental Exchange,and chairman of theNew York Stock Exchange.
Jeffrey Sprecher | |
|---|---|
 Sprecher in 2020 | |
| Born | Jeffrey Craig Sprecher February 23, 1955 Madison, Wisconsin,U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of Wisconsin-Madison(BS) Pepperdine University(MBA) |
| Occupation(s) | Chairman and CEO,Intercontinental Exchange Chairman,New York Stock Exchange |
| Spouse | |
Early life
editSprecher was born inMadison, Wisconsin,the son of insurance broker Peter Sprecher and medical technologist Phyllis (née Willingham). His sisters are the filmmakers Karen andJill Sprecher.[1][2][3]He attended Madison'sJames Madison Memorial High School,[4]and was initiated to the Wisconsin Alpha Chapter ofSigma Alpha Epsilon.[5]Sprecher received a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from theUniversity of Wisconsin–Madisonin 1978 and aMaster of Business AdministrationfromPepperdine Universityin 1984.[6][7]
Career
editSprecher's first job was atTrane,where he met William Prentice who was developing power plants following deregulation. Prentice offered him a job at Western Power Group in 1983.[8]
TheEnergy Policy Act of 1992passed and deregulation in the electric industry began. Those working in the "electric industry realized the need for real-time, continentwide transactions", made possible by "Continental Power Exchange" technologies whereby "individual businesses and consumers may one day be able to select an energy provider in the same way that individuals shop for long-distance telephone service."[8][9]
In 1996 he bought the Continental Power Exchange inAtlantafromMidAmerican Energy Holdings Companyfor $1 plus the assumption of debt, which became the foundation forIntercontinental Exchange(ICE).[8][9]
In the 1990s energy trading was handled manually by "Continental Power Exchange, an electronic energy trading company.[8][9]By 1997 Continental Power Exchange CPEX had "a federated software structure in place, CPEX... ready to expand to more servers as growth demands. CPEX's hardware and server architecture [were] capable of supporting foreseeable changes that may be necessary when the client load arrives. Continental [intended] to stay at least one step ahead of the marketplace."[10]
Sprecher started Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) in 2000 as an online marketplace for energy trading in Atlanta.[11]
Shortly after the company approachedEnronto be a client, Enron started its own competing electricity trading platform, which dominated the market. Enron's market model was to buy from every seller and sell to every buyer. Wall Street bankers, particularlyGoldman SachsandMorgan Stanleybacked him and he launched ICE in 2000 (giving 80 percent control to the two banks who, in turn spread out the control amongShell,Total,andBritish Petroleum). When Enron's exchange collapsed in 2001 in theEnron scandal,ICE's business exploded.[7][8]
Since then the company has expanded including the following acquisitions:
- International Petroleum Exchangein 2001[8]
- New York Board of Tradein 2006[8]
- Creditex in 2008
- The Clearing Corporation in 2009
- Climate Exchange in 2010
- NYSE Euronextin 2013
- In November 2013, ICE announced its acquisition of Singapore Mercantile Exchange[12]
- SuperDerivativesin 2014
- Interactive Data Corporationin 2015
Bakkt
editIn 2018, Intercontinental Exchange formedBakkt,“a pioneering marketplace in digital currency futures.” In January 2021, the company announced that “Bakkt’s being absorbed into a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) sponsored by Chicago investment fund Victory Park Capital.” Sprecher was quoted inFortunethat “the lofty costs of processing payments by credit card [are] one of the prime targets for disruption in financial services.Bakkt...could play a central role in wrestling down costs.”[13]
Stock sales during COVID-19 pandemic
editOn March 19, 2020, the public release of federal financial-disclosure documents revealed that Sprecher and his wife, interim U.S. SenatorKelly Loefflersold millions of dollars of stock the couple owned in companies vulnerable to theCOVID-19 pandemic.The sales began the same day Loeffler and other senators received a private briefing from federal officials about the looming crisis.[14]The documents also showed that the couple purchased stock inCitrix Systems,a company that would potentially benefit from the increase inremote workdue to thestay-at-home ordersissued to mitigate theCOVID-19 pandemic.[14]At least some of the stocks that Loeffler sold were owned jointly with Sprecher and would have required his knowledge and authorization to sell, documents show.[14][15]
On March 20, 2020, the consumer advocacy groupCommon Causefiled complaints against Sprecher and Loeffler with theSecurities and Exchange Commission,theUnited States Senate Ethics Committee,and theUnited States Justice Department,requesting from the latter a criminal investigation of the couple for violations of theSTOCK Act.[16]
On March 20, 2020, also reported by CNBC in the same article referenced above,Intercontinental Exchangesaid in a statement that the nearly 30 transactions involving the couple were “in compliance” with company policies. “Mr. Sprecher and Senator Loeffler have made clear that those transactions were executed by their financial advisors without Mr. Sprecher’s or Senator Loeffler’s input or direction.”[17]
On June 16, 2020, it was reported that theSenate Ethics Committeeended its investigation into Sen. Kelly Loeffler's stock trades. The news came three weeks after Sen. Loeffler's office said the Justice Department had also dropped its probe into her stock trades. Deborah Sue Mayer, the Ethics Committee's chief counsel and staff director, wrote in the letter that the panel examined stock transactions made by both Loeffler and her husband Jeffrey Sprecher, chairman of the New York Stock Exchange.[18]
Personal life
editSprecher has been married to formerU.S. senatorKelly Loefflersince 2004.[19][20]They reside inTuxedo Park, Atlantain a $10,500,000, 15,000 square foot estate named Descante, though the property was later reappraised for around $4 million, resulting in far lower property taxes.[21][22]
During theCOVID-19 pandemic,Sprecher and his wife donated $1 million to the Phoebe Foundation's COVID-19 Relief Fund of thePhoebe Putney Health Systemfor personal protective equipment for Phoebe care team members.[23]
References
edit- ^Rochlin, Margy (2002-05-19)."FILM; Quiet, Unassuming: Like Their Movies".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Retrieved2022-01-11.
- ^"Anna Plank Obituary (2007) - Ocala, FL - Ocala Star-Banner".Legacy.
- ^"The Alpha Phi Quarterly".1957.
- ^"Doug Moe: No more anonymity for Jeff Sprecher after NYSE purchase: Wsj".Host.madison. 2013-01-06.Retrieved2013-01-20.
- ^Popper, Nathaniel (19 January 2013)."Jeffrey Sprecher's Improbable Path to Buying the N.Y.S.E."The New York Times.
- ^"IntercontinentalExchange, Inc. - Board of Directors".Ir.theice.Retrieved2013-01-20.
- ^ab Chad Terhune (July 29, 2010)."ICE's Jeffrey Sprecher: The Sultan of Swaps".Bloomberg Business Week. Archived fromthe originalon August 6, 2010.RetrievedFebruary 15,2013.
- ^abcdefgNathaniel Popper (January 19, 2013)."Buying the N.Y.S.E., in One Shot".New York Times.RetrievedFebruary 15,2013.
- ^abcMiranda Green (December 20, 2012)."9 Fun Facts About the NYSE's New Boss: The newest big shot in the New York financial world is a guy from Atlanta who studied chemical engineering and loves go-cart".The Daily Beast.
- ^D. Heise; D Tuck (August–September 1997).Continental Power Exchange.Distributed Object Computing(Report). pp. 30–36.
- ^doug_moe (January 6, 2013)."Doug Moe: No more anonymity for Jeff Sprecher after NYSE purchase".Wisconsin State Journal.
- ^Rothwell, Steve (December 20, 2012),"For the New York Stock Exchange, a sell order",San Jose Mercury News,Associated Press
- ^Tully, Shawn (2021-01-27)."Bakkt wants to put your rewards, points, Bitcoin, and even stocks all in one new digital wallet".FORTUNE.Retrieved2020-02-22.
- ^abcMarkay, Lachlan; Bredderman, William; Brodey, Sam (March 20, 2020)."Sen. Kelly Loeffler Dumped Millions in Stock After Coronavirus Briefing".The Daily Beast– via thedailybeast.
- ^Lipton, Eric; Fandos, Nicholas (2020-03-19)."Senator Richard Burr Sold a Fortune in Stocks as G.O.P. Played Down Coronavirus Threat".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Retrieved2020-04-02.
- ^Franck, Dan Mangan,Thomas (2020-03-20)."Sen. Loeffler, NYSE owner CEO husband defend stock sales after her coronavirus briefing".CNBC.Retrieved2020-04-02.
{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^Franck, Dan Mangan,Thomas (2020-03-20)."Sen. Loeffler, NYSE owner CEO husband defend stock sales after her coronavirus briefing".CNBC.Retrieved2020-01-06.
{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^Levine, Marianne (2020-06-16)."Senate Ethics Committee drops probe of Loeffler stock trades".Politico.Retrieved2020-01-06.
- ^Popper, Nathaniel (Jan 19, 2013)."Buying the N.Y.S.E., in One Shot".The New York Times.RetrievedNov 29,2019– via NYTimes.
- ^Meyer, Gregory (March 27, 2018)."ICE communications head Kelly Loeffler to step down at year's end".Amp.ft.RetrievedNovember 27,2019.
- ^Lichtenstein, Jesse (March 29, 2013)."Market Movers".
- ^Hirsh, Ben (October 24, 2014)."Buckhead Man Buys NYSE".buckhead.RetrievedDecember 1,2019.
- ^"Phoebe Foundation Receives $1 Million Donation".Retrieved13 November2020.