Vladimir Tenev | |
---|---|
Born | |
Nationality | American, Bulgarian |
Education | Stanford (BA) UCLA (dropped out) |
Occupation | Entrepreneur |
Known for | Co-founder, Robinhood |
Children | 1 |
Vladimir Tenev (Bulgarian: Владимир Тенев; born 13 February 1987) is a Bulgarian-American entrepreneur who is the co-founder (with Baiju Bhatt) and CEO of Robinhood, a US-based financial technology services company.
Tenev was born in Bulgaria, and his parents migrated to the U.S. when he was five.[1] His parents both worked for the World Bank.[2] He attended Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology[3] in Fairfax County, Virginia.
He earned a degree in mathematics from Stanford University, where he met Baiju Bhatt.[4] He studied for a mathematics PhD at UCLA, but dropped out to work with Bhatt.[2][5]
In 2010, Tenev and Bhatt started a high-frequency trading software company called Celeris. By January 2011 they abandoned it to create Chronos Research, which sold low-latency software to other trading firms and banks.[6]
In 2013, Tenev and Bhatt co-founded the trading platform Robinhood.[4] In 2015, Robinhood launched its mobile app to the public.[7] Following a funding round in May 2018 which increased Robinhood's valuation to $6 billion, Tenev and Bhatt became billionaires.[4][8]
In November 2020, Tenev became the sole CEO of Robinhood, having previously shared the co-CEO title with Bhatt.[9]
In July 2021, Robinhood went public via an initial public offering at a $32 billion valuation.[10]
Tenev defended Robinhood's decision to prevent users from buying stock or options in a variety of securities, notably GameStop, during the GameStop short squeeze;[11][12][13][14] the decision had sparked widespread criticism from users of the app as well as politicians in both major American parties.[15]
On January 28, 2021, Robinhood was among a number of brokerages that halted users from buying stock or options in GameStop and the other heavily shorted-securities.[16]
On February 18, 2021, Tenev testified before the United States House Committee on Financial Services regarding Robinhood's role during the GameStop short squeeze.[17][18] Tenev came under criticism from members of both parties and was criticized for struggling to provide answers to a number of questions.[19][20][21]
His testimony explained that Robinhood’s decision to halt securities was driven by a need to meet federal clearinghouse deposit requirements, and refuted a number of theories that accused Robinhood of colluding with hedge funds during the squeeze.[22]
In its July 2021 Form S-1 filing with the SEC, Robinhood disclosed that the US Attorney's Office had executed a search warrant for Tenev's cell phone as part of a probe into the GameStop short squeeze.[23][24][25]
Year | Awards | Category | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2016 | Forbes 30 Under 30 | Young Traders | Won | [26] |
2022 | Forbes 30 Under 30 Hall of Fame | [27] |
He was invited to be the keynote speaker at UCLA's 2019 Math Commencement Ceremony.[28]
Tenev is married to Celina A. Tenev, notably a co-founder of an emergency health service, Call9.[29] They have one daughter.[30]
Tenev is portrayed by Sebastian Stan in the 2023 film Dumb Money, a drama about the GameStop short squeeze.[31]