Thomas Peterffy 63 How'd he get so rich? The founder and CEO of Interactive Brokers, Peterffy was born and raised in communist Hungary. Arriving in the U.S. as a young engineering draftsman with no knowledge of English, he instead communicated through the language of software. Today Jones estimates his fortune to be around $11 billion, which would make him almost twice as rich as fellow Greenwich resident, hedge fund honcho Steven Cohen of SAC Capital Advisors. Peterffy's Interactive Brokers, including his market-making unit Timber Hill, executes more than 2 million equity-based option contracts worldwide every day.
from what I understand , he was using real time computers while his competition was still scratching fair values on the back of napkins. And probably getting it wrong. Tougher game now. Much. As Mr. P would readily admit. But the money is already in the bank, and not likely to be lost.