Quoted traders in the Quote 500
A couple of weeks after the launch of the new rich list, the Quote 500, the researchers must have realized their estimates for some folks must have been way to optimistic. Any derivative trader could have told them of course. The 2011 edition of the Quote 500 will probably see Allard Jakobs tumbling down the list. He will need a surprising profit on his large South American forestry plantations to stay in the rich list at all. All Options lost 33 million over 2009 (pdf), and the results for 2010 will be even worse. All Options has even left their trading spot in the exchange building. Euronext apparently hasn’t been able to attract a new large trading firm for the former trading hall. Current plan seems to be to fit several smaller trading firms together in the big trading hall. Just like the old days, with your competitors in the same room. Imagine cubicle desks with high walls between.
Anyway, here’s he list op top ranked traders in the trading business. The former Van der Moolen executives Hans Kroon and Richard den Drijver disappeared last year from the list, and of course Wiet Pot made his fortune working for Goldman Sachs.
- Allard Jakobs (All Options), 300 million
- Johan Kaemingk (Optiver), 236 million
- Wiet Pot (IMC), 210 million
- Jan Dobber (Optiver), 80 million
- Ruud Vlek (Optiver), 81 million
- Leo van den berg, (Optiver), 90 million
- Chris Oomen (Optiver) 85 million
- Rob Defares (IMC) 94 million
- René Schelvis(IMC), 52 million
- Roger Hodenius (Flow Traders), 60 million
- Jan van Kuijk (Flow Traders), 60 million
Source (Dutch).
The title of the article is somewhat misleading. Oomen, van den Berg and Vlek invested money in Optiver from the very start. Good for them, but it does not make them “traders”. In fact, they aren’t. Wiet Pot probably shouldn’t be called a trader either, he comes from investment banking and bought a stake in IMC (after one too many slaps on the wrist by the AFM). At least I’m glad you didn’t include dinosaurs like Kluft and Strating.
This list is not complete. There are so many All Options junior traders and senior Australia-based Optiver traders and managers who are easily worth more than 80 million each.
Very true!
The list is more of a list of shareholders of trading companies, not traders themselves.
Very much doubt that anyone from Optiver Australia apart from Rob K is worth 80m. Name names please, and back it up with some numbers.
Very much doubt that anyone from Optiver Australia apart from Rob K is worth 80m. Name names please, and back it up with some numbers.
Keldoulis is worth more than Kaemingk ? how did he pull that trade off ?
The first poster is an idiot. Leo van den Berg was one of the finest traders to grace the old floor and taught many an Optiver trader a good lesson!
9:12 pm
‘to grace the old floor’ … that reeks of nostalgia which is common to old people.
Maybe the first poster should be forgiven for not being an old fart like yourself who was around in 1986 when Optiver was founded. What’s your excuse for spending time on this blog a quarter of a century later? You should be in the Quote 500 list given the length of your career!
leo van den berg got out when options trading went screen based … nuff said
Guys I think some of you are taking the numbers being tossed around a little bit too seriously. The second post was clearly making fun of a similar discussion last week. For crying out loud, he even suggested that many All Options *juniors* are worth more than 80 million (that company is losing money hand over fist and hasn’t paid a bonus in ages). Just goes to show how easy it is to start a rumor that becomes fact.
oh u thought we were taking those figures seriously ?! : )
most of the stuff thrown on this blog is piss take .. only few comments are worth the time ..
haha hilarious, jesus if u can’t figure out wat is a joke and wat is somewhat serious, how on earth do u trade for a living?
How about Dowson for Optiver US?
@9:12
That’s what “old farts” do: have a look on this blog every once in a while and laugh about all those silly youngsters who wonder why they are not millionaire yet.
After a couple of years in the game you should put your money where your mouth is and start trading with your own money. Start with your couple of hundred grant bonuses (if you don’t have that yet, find another job). If you’re half as good as you think you are you, you should be a millionaire in a few years!
Otherwise, just keep posting silly messages with silly figures! Espacially in this time of the year when it is to cold for old farts to go out boating, play golf or go to the beach.
LOL ROFL… respect!
Dowson is heading towards bankruptcy. He was not a major shareholder. Though he recieved million dollar bonuses, he has squandered most of this on fast cars and fast boats. Now there is a big fine coming his way from the cftc.
Dowson isn’t anywhere near these numbers
Ab vd Brink got run over by All Options in the Altana dividend. His company, Abacus, lost 30 million euros.
optiver australia office has outperformed the other optiver offices for the last 4 years at least. made 450mm in 2008
450MM in what currency? Optiver made 600 EUR MM in total in 2008, so even if you mean Aussie that number is probably not realistic.
Whatever is written in the comments on this blog is usually nonsense. It’s all bitching and complaining from guys who never ran a company themselves before but who think they are the best thing ever in existence and should be treated as such. A lot of comments are total hearsay and second-hand stories and are over-exaggerated. They remind me of that famous cartoon that start with goodbye, bye?, buy?, buy!, etc
“my friend works there and bla bla bla (follows incredible story about bad management, low bonusses, crap systems, bad this, bad that, bad X, badY )”. Then turns out his friend is the junior trainee who once read a book by Michael Lewis (and derives al his “industry knowledge” from that) who overheard some more senior guys discussing business at the coffee machine and without really knowing what’s going on spills his guts to his friends, not realizing that unfounded rumours and wrong stories can damage a company.
Unfortunatey that’s the general level at this blog. Sad.
Finally, one of the GODS who runs a company speaks out again and sets the scum (a.k.a. employees) straight for missing the bigger picture. Thank you for sharing your wisdom and for being a true enterprenerd. If only there were more people like you in this industry. Or in general. The world would be a better place. VDM and All Options, to give but two examples, were killed by vicious rumours, not because of a lack of competence on a management level.
PS there is no such thing as “over-exaggerated”.
@5.45 you could not have given a better example of my statement. Thanks for that. I rest my case.
I agree with 4.22. The owner of this blog should only allow HIGHER MANAGEMENT to post messages.
i agri … this blog shuld bee about WE not ME
helemaal mee eens!
+1
Couldn’t have said it better myself. Try walking a mile in my shoes for a change.
as always there are two side to it, things have truth but there are exaggeration too, sometime complete imaginations too .. there is no point in arguing what somebody is saying is completely true or not, say ur case and let the audience use their common sense to judge the merit of it ..
of course there are always two sides to a story, but many times I see people posting nonsense about topics I happen to know the details about. And that pisses me off sometimes, and I couldn’t resist writing down some frustration. I am sure many ‘higher managers’ know they make mistakes just as traders do, but if you don’t try you will never get anywere.
wrong, most stuff here isn’t exaggerated at all.
[…] All Options has never been a cash cow, except for the Altana year. Losing millions ever since. As predicted tumbled on the list, but not far […]
[…] Heralding trumpets. Pat myself on the back. Told you so. Twice. […]
[…] With All Options as a tiny market maker unable to compete in the main stocks and index, Allard Jakobs’ fortune looks overestimated. Maybe his teak investments made a killing. Alexander Roepers, 54 years old, is new on the list. It’s not a typo – the researchers have overlooked the guy for years. IMC had a great year, and Rob Defares made a great jump in his net worth. For more details check out last year’s overview or the list in 2010. […]