Don’t get me wrong; I wasn’t going to stop working. I was just finished being a CEO, with all the demands that come with the job. I still wanted to try new things and take on new challenges, some far outside of my current domains of expertise. I was founder and Chairman of the USATF Foundation and was proud of what we’d achieved over more than a decade, supporting our country’s most promising young track and field athletes, but I knew we could do more. Plus, I wanted to get back to my entrepreneurial roots, help create new companies or build up young ones. I was itching to play upstart disruptor again and to mentor young innovators. And as I finally began to allow myself to reflect more directly on the past, I was considering writing a book.
We made the announcement on November 14, 2016. Adena was officially named as my replacement effective January 1, 2017. The weekend before the announcement I sat down in my home office to write a few words to Nasdaq staff. I poured myself a nice glass of wine, and as I took the first sip I thought better of my timing, and decided I’d write it in the morning, when my mind was fresh and less likely to drift into nostalgia. As the sun rose, I put pen to paper, and I thought about all of the various intersecting reasons that made this the right moment to step down. But one truth stood out above the others and seemed to encapsulate my thoughts in leaving. It was about the knowledge that time is a precious, limited resource, and as we get older, we feel it more deeply.
“What I have come to realize,” I wrote, “is that the opportunity cost of how you choose to spend your time increases not on a linear but rather a logarithmic scale as your assumption about your number of tomorrows decreases… After careful consideration and discussion, in full recognition that the CEO position will always have infinite and all-encompassing responsibility, Julia and I decided that now is the proper time to plan for a more balanced number of tomorrows.”
I was fit, healthy, and mentally sharp, but as I neared sixty, and my number of tomorrows decreased, I knew I wanted to spend them doing other things. I had truly loved being CEO of Nasdaq. But time moves on relentlessly, and Adena had met every test, exceeded every bar, and done everything that I had asked of her. The Board had taken my recommendation and chosen her. It was time for her to put her unique stamp on the future of a great organization.
On the fiftieth floor of One Liberty Plaza, we gathered for a champagne toast as the announcement went out to staff. It was a beautiful and bittersweet moment of celebration, of moving on, moving forward, and moving out. I had cut my leadership teeth on the steel girders of One Liberty Plaza and come away a changed man, a wiser man. Nasdaq, likewise, had found its way, gone from desperately surviving to truly thriving, and I was proud to have been central to that remarkable transformation. I had given the best years of my life to the organization and it had responded in kind.
In a little over a month, Adena would be CEO. I would briefly stay on as Executive Chairman of the Nasdaq Board to oversee the transition. In the words of one of my favorite poets, Bob Dylan, it was time to “strike another match [and] start anew.”
A Final Toast
After the resignation letter was released, I found myself in my office, at a loose end. Everyone wanted to talk to me, but I didn’t quite know what more to say. And then my phone rang with the best idea I’d heard all day.
“Bob, it’s Vinnie. How would you like to meet me for a drink later this afternoon?”
I had known Vinnie Viola, founder of Virtu Financial, since my days at SunGard. A West Point graduate and former army Major, he had become wealthy in the years since we first met, the founder of a successful financial firm, as well as a personal friend. When Chris Concannon left Nasdaq in 2009, he had gone to work with Vinnie at Virtu (before moving on to CBOE). In fact, Vinnie had several times tried to convince me to step away from Nasdaq to come work with him. But it had never felt like the right time.
It was nice to hear from an old friend, and the idea of getting out of the office early was a relief. I quietly slipped into the elevator and headed over to the east side of Manhattan to an old-school Italian restaurant where Vinnie was camped out with a couple of friends.
“Two Dewar’s, please,” Vinnie said to the waiter as I sat down. Over the years it had become a tradition—Dewar’s for both of us, the workingman’s Scotch. For two leaders of the financial industry, it was a nod to the time when neither of us could afford anything more expensive. We had both grown up working-class—he was from Brooklyn; I was from Queens and Long Island. The best thing about new money is that you remember what it’s like to have none.
“A toast to your success.” Vinnie raised his glass, and I joined him.
“And I have news,” he continued. “Our President-elect has asked me to be Secretary of the Army.”
“Congratulations. That’s a real honor,” I replied, and we toasted again.
As it would turn out, Vinnie would eventually withdraw his name from consideration, due to business ties that were too difficult to untangle. But for the moment, he was moved and excited by the proposition, which was due to be announced the following month. And he was already making plans for his firm—which was where I came in.
“Bob, come work for Virtu. I’d like you to replace me as Chairman of the Board. I promise it won’t be too demanding, and we’ll compensate you well. No doubt Doug would appreciate your counsel and expertise.” Doug Cifu is cofounder and CEO of Virtu, and he’s a great business leader and friend.
With Nasdaq about to be in the rearview mirror, it felt like a day for reflecting on my life and career, both past and future. As I considered his proposal, I imagined how I would have responded to such a proposition at a younger age—incredibly well-paid work, and not exactly backbreaking. Somewhere in the back of my mind, my inner twenty-five-year-old was yelling, Are you crazy? What’s to consider? Take it!
“Thanks, Vinnie,” I said, “but I’m not going to do that.”
Vinnie and I had always looked forward to the day we could spend more time together. And I knew that in the next period of my life, I could easily trade on my name for a few plum Board seats, take a great salary, sit back, and enjoy the perks. That wasn’t for me; I was never going to be that guy. I didn’t need another job; I’d already had the best one in the world. If I took a Board seat, it was going to be because I had real equity in the company and relished the entrepreneurial challenge of helping the company grow. Still, I knew Doug and the team at Virtu, how smart and capable they were. It would be a thrill to work with them, help build a great company. Maybe something was possible.
“I would love to partner with you on something. Let’s do a deal together. What could we do? What could we create? What could we build?”
Vinnie and I explored possibilities. At some point, the name Knight Capital came up. Virtu and Nasdaq had tried to buy the company a few years before but lost out to Getco. Now it was KCG, and ripe for a takeover. Vinnie got excited and called Doug, who was similarly enthusiastic.
I called my friend Glenn Hutchins, a current Board member at Nasdaq. Glenn was looking for new ventures, and we’d already discussed the possibility of partnering. He brought to the table a kaleidoscopic knowledge of the private equity industry. What about it? Maybe we could obtain the financing to help Virtu make a bid? As the idea swirled around in my head and we moved on to a finer Scotch, I could already imagine the synergies.
My phone rang. I looked down at it and smiled. Family trumped business now. Bobby was calling to say congratulations. We spoke for a few minutes before our conversation was interrupted by a call from Greg. Later came a text from Katie, who just happened to live nearby. I invited her to join us; the business discussions could wait. She sat and talked with us as a brisk afternoon melted away into the cold November evening.
Friends. Family. Business. New plans. By the time I stepped out into the night and headed home to spend more time with Julia, the love of my life, I was a happy man. While nothing could ever replace the magic of the Nasdaq years, the future was going to be wonderful.
Acknowledgments
My parents, Adelaide and Robert, raised five children, with limited means and unlimited love. They told me thousands of times, “You can do anything.” I am their child and their creation.
Parents always want to remain the hero in their children’s eyes. My children—Bobby, Greg, and Katie—are adults, and while I will never again be their five-year-old hero, they are my closest friends. Truly, the greatest gift.
This career and this book would not have been possible without the guidance and mentorship of many. The few individuals listed here come first to mind; I apologize to all others. Furlong “Baldy” Baldwin, Evan T. Barrington, Frank Baxter, Steve Black, Michael Casey, Cris Conde, Börje Ekholm, Graham Gurney, Pat Healy, Warren Hellman, Glenn Hutchins, Ira Kirsch, Tom Kloet, Frank Ladwig, Carl LaGrassa, James Mann, Edward Redfield, Arthur Rock, Mike Splinter, and all the members of the Board of Nasdaq.
A leader can never be better than his team. I was fortunate to be surrounded by incredibly talented and motivated individuals. I am in the debt of many; I list a small number here. Rosemary Albergo, Jim Ashton, Bruce Aust, Marianne Baldrica, Marcia Barris, Danny Barsella, Harsh Barve, Magnus Böcker, Terry Campbell, Ulf Carlsson, Mandana Chaffa, Joe Christinat, Dayna Cohen, Chris Concannon, Katharine Cox, Kevin Cummings, Bobby Cuomo, Ed Ditmire, David Ehret, Paul Erickson, Anna Ewing, Esther Forster, Adena Friedman, Sandy Frucher, Nelson Griggs, Ron Hassen, Doug Hurry, John Hyde, Brian Hyndman, Moss Iman, John Jacobs, Hans-Ole Jochumsen, Jameel Johnson, Will Keh, Tom King, Edward Knight, Carl LaGrassa Jr., Dan Liu, Jean-Jacques Louis, John Lucchese, Bob McCooey, Tom McDugall, Karin McKinnell, Satish Mujumdar, Gerry Murphy, Eric Noll, Bill O’Brien, Brian O’Malley, Jennifer Ok, Matt Orsi, Lars Ottersgård, Vince Palmiere, Brad Peterson, Michael Ptasznik, Nipun Ragoowansi, Steve Randich, Rob Rentenberg, Lauri Rosendahl, Mike Salito, Mark Schroeter, Tom Selby, Dave Shafer, Lee Shavel, James Shedrick, Bethany Sherman, Bjørn Sibbern, Jeremy Skule, Bettina Slusar, Bryan Smith, Rick Tarbox, Donna Thompson, Marc Ulysee, David Warren, Tom Wittman, John Yetter, John Zecca, and Julie Zipper.
I am living proof of the African proverb “It takes a village.” Many have helped provide the support that enabled my success in life and work. I mention a few here; thank you. John Bannon, John and Debbie Bunce, John Chambers, Doug Cifu, Steve Cohen, Bill Considine, Jimmy Dunne, Pete Featherstone, Cynthia Forte, Liz and Charlie Frumberg, Steve Goulart, Alex Greifeld, Phil and Carolyn Greifeld, William Greifeld, Ed Herlihy, Bob Hugin, Steve Kandarian, Gloria LaGrassa, Steve Lessing, Mike Oxley, Ken Pasternak, Walter Raquet, Fernando Rivas, Jim Robinson, Rick Rock, Don Saladino, Joey Saladino, Joe Seiler, Kaivan Shakib, John Shay, John and Pam Shortal, Liz and Richard Steigman, Larry Summers, and Vinnie Viola.
CEOs succeed or fail based on how they leverage their time. Deborah Rock had the primary responsibility for deciding who got on the schedule and for how long. She was the secret lever of my time and my success. I’m in Deb’s debt for many things, but mainly as a friend. We are both grateful we have our lifetimes to balance the scales.
In the publishing of this book, I’ve been lucky to have the backing of a top-notch team. Thank you to my agents at Aevitas, David Kuhn, Lauren Sharp, and Nate Muscato, who carefully shepherded this book to a great publisher and have continued to support its progress toward publication. My gratitude also goes out to Gretchen Young at Grand Central Publishing for her thorough and thoughtful editing, and to Emily Rosman for her patience with all the details.
The distillation of fifteen years of memories, many quite arcane, into a coherent narrative seemed quite impossible for quite a long period of time. I certainly believe the task would have remained impossible if not for Carter Phipps and Ellen Daly. Carter’s remarkable ability to quickly understand and reduce complex topics to their interesting essence was profoundly unique. And when Carter and I would spend too much time discussing the minutiae of market structure, the significance of the third stanza of “Howl,” or the meaning of life, Ellen was there to remind us of the miles to go and how the last chapter might not be quite as good as we thought—and here were eight recommendations for improvement. The best result of this process is that Julia and I have two new friends for life. It has been a pleasure.
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About the Author
Credit: Nasdaq, Inc.
Bob Greifeld is former CEO and Chairman of Nasdaq. He is currently Chairman of Virtu Financial, a leading financial technology and trading firm; Managing Partner and Co-Founder at Cornerstone Investment Capital, a financial technology investment firm; and a board member at Capital Rock and Financeware.
Bob is Chairman and Founder of the USATF Foundation, an organization dedicated to supporting both athletes from disadvantaged backgrounds and our next generation of Olympians. Bob also serves on the NYC Board of Overseers.
Notes
Chapter One: Nasdaq Comes Calling
1. Warren Buffett at the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting, 1993, quoted in Janet Lowe, Warren Buffett Speaks: Wit and Wisdom from the World’s Greatest Investor (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2007), 143.
Chapter Two: People First
1. Henry Blodget, “Exclusive Interview with Tony Hseih: How Being a Little Bit Weird Made Zappos a Fortune,” Business Insider, October 18, 2010, https://www.businessinsider.com/henry-blodget-tony-hsieh-zappos-2010-10 (accessed December 2018).
2. Lydia Dishman, “Why Companies Make Bad Hires,” Fast Company, September 1, 2015, https://www.fastcompany.com/3050570/why-companies-make -bad-hires (accessed December 2018).
3. Jim Collins, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t (New York: HarperBusiness, 2001), 42.
4. Thomas Gryta, Joann S. Lublin, and David Benoit, “How Jeffrey Immelt’s ‘Success Theater’ Masked the Rot at GE,” Wall Street Journal, February 21, 2018, https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-jeffrey-immelts-success-theater -masked-the-rot-at-ge-1519231067 (accessed December 2018).
Chapter Three: Triage
1. Paula Dwyer and Amy Borrus, “Nasdaq: The Fight of Its Life,” Businessweek, August 11, 2003, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2003-08-10 /nasdaq-the-fight-of-its-life (accessed December 2018).
2. John Chambers with Diane Brady, Connecting the Dots: Lessons for Leadership in a Startup World (New York: Hachette, 2018), 41. Emphasis in the original.
Chapter Four: Buy the Winners
1. Dan Brekke, “Daytrading Places,” Wired, July 1, 1999, https://www.wired .com/1999/07/island-2/ (accessed December 2018).
Chapter Eight: Grappling with Growth
1. Jim Collins, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t (New York: HarperBusiness, 2001), 180.
Chapter Nine: Blood on the Tracks
1. Rachelle Younglai, “SEC Chief Has Regrets over Short-Selling Ban,” Reuters, December 31, 2008, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sec-cox/sec-chief -has-regrets-over-short-selling-ban-idUSTRE4BU3GG20081231 (accessed December 2018).
2. Tae Kim, “Buffett, Quoting Partner Munger, Says There Are Three Ways to Go Broke: ‘Liquor, Ladies and Leverage,’” Squawk Box, CNBC, February 26, 2018, https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/26/buffett-says-out-of-the-three -ways-to-go-broke-liquor-ladies-and-leverage-leverage-is-the-worst .html (accessed December 2018).
Chapter Ten: The One That Got Away
1. William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act 1, scene 7, line 60.
2. Devlin Barrett, “Schumer Tilts Toward Offer by Germans for Big Board,” Wall Street Journal, May 6, 2011, https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703992704576305384222703172 (accessed December 2018).
3. Cyrus Sanati, “The Big Deal About the NYSE’s Big Deal: Derivatives,” Fortune, March 2, 2011, http://fortune.com/2011/03/02/the-big-deal-about -the-nyses-big-deal-derivatives/ (accessed December 2018).
Chapter Twelve: Institutionalizing
Innovation
1. Commissioner Luis A. Aguilar, “U.S. Equity Market Structure: Making Our Markets Work Better for Investors,” U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Public Statement, May 11, 2015, https://www.sec.gov/news/statement /us-equity-market-structure.html (accessed December 2018).
Chapter Thirteen: Don’t Look Back
1. Brittany Umar, “Adena Friedman to Rejoin the Nasdaq and Likely Be in Line to Lead,” Real Money, TheStreet, May 12, 2014, https://realmoney .thestreet.com/video/12704768/adena-friedman-to-rejoin-the-nasdaq-and -likely-be-in-line-to-lead.html (accessed December 2018).
* The name was originally an acronym for National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation System.
† Nasdaq dealers acted as middlemen, matching buyers and sellers or filling orders from their own inventory. Given the low volumes typical in the over-the-counter Nasdaq stock market, the market makers were essential to provide grease to the wheels, so to speak, “making markets” in securities that otherwise would have been difficult to trade. As compensation, they generally took a small cut for their service out of the “spread” (or difference) between the “bid” (price a buyer is willing to pay) and the “ask” (price a seller is willing to take).
* The exception here was in lower-volume markets, where there is very little likelihood of getting simultaneous buy and sell interest. High-volume stocks are perfectly suited to electronic trading networks. But low-volume stocks, which tend to be illiquid, require greater hands-on assistance to function efficiently. In these cases, middlemen can play a critical role in facilitating trading.
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