Jeff Yass has achieved notable success in the financial industry. After founding one of the world’s most renowned trading firms, he became the wealthiest person in the state of Pennsylvania. Read more about the entrepreneur on queens1.one.
Early Years
Jeffrey Yass was born in 1958 in Queens to a family of Jewish accountants. From a young age, Jeff was introduced to arbitrage trading. At Datatab, a public financial information company owned by his father, he studied securities, laying the groundwork for his future career in finance. Yass earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and economics from Binghamton University in New York. While studying, he met people who would later help him start his company.
One day in July 1985, three young men from Philadelphia, their lawyer, and a security guard arrived at a racetrack near Chicago with $250,000 in cash. Jeff Yass and his friends found a way to outsmart the bookmakers. Months before the horse races, they bet $160,000, hoping to predict the exact order of seven horses in three different races using other people’s bets. Their betting method was based on a theory refined by a statistician who had worked with NASA on the moon landing. Yass and his friends earned $760,000—the largest profit in the history of American horse racing at that time!
Susquehanna International Group
Having understood the workings of the financial market, Yass and his friends decided to shift their focus from the world of hundreds of thousands to billions. In 1987, together with five friends and his father, Yass founded Susquehanna International Group (SIG)—an international trading and technology firm. During its first year, the company generated $30 million in annual revenue.
Yass and his team used their knowledge to execute rapid computer transactions involving options and other securities. Eventually, the company became a massive intermediary in the stock and securities markets. Interestingly, Susquehanna International Group hires and trains traders using poker tournaments to hone their decision-making skills. Yass’s philosophy aligns with a poker pro’s mantra: there’s no more reliable way to win than by betting against someone less skilled or experienced. His gambling instincts, honed in the 1970s and 1980s, make Yass stand out in the options market and drive his entrepreneurial success.
The headquarters of Susquehanna International Group is in Pennsylvania, with offices worldwide. SIG has numerous subsidiaries specializing in trading and investing in stocks, fixed income, energy, commodities, indices, and more. By 2022, the firm had invested in more than 350 companies. SIG holds investments worth tens of billions in China, Israel, and the United States and owns significant stakes in technology firms.
Philanthropy and Political Contributions
Yass gives very few interviews and largely avoids the spotlight. However, his philanthropy offers a rare glimpse into his priorities and goals. Jeff Yass is a well-known philanthropist and a board member of the Cato Institute—a non-governmental, non-academic research organization that studies economic issues, publishes books and journals, and organizes conferences.
In 2001, following the September 11 attacks, Yass donated a substantial amount to a charity fund established to aid victims. He has supported Save the Children, an international NGO providing aid to children in developing countries, and The Spirit of Golf Foundation, which promotes amateur golf worldwide.
Moreover, Yass has repeatedly contributed to various political candidates and organizations, primarily Republican. His donations have supported initiatives ranging from tax-cut campaigns to anti-critical race theory movements. In 2020, Yass was among the top ten people who made the largest political donations.
During the 2022 elections, Yass spent at least $18 million, some of which supported Republican Bill McSwain, who ran unsuccessfully for governor of Pennsylvania. His largest donation (as of July 2024) was $6 million to Texas Governor Greg Abbott, marking “the largest single contribution in Texas history.” Notably, in 2023, Abbott actively promoted a program allowing parents to use taxpayer money to send their children to private schools.
In 2012, Susquehanna International Group invested $5 million in ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok. Given that SIG’s assets were at risk from U.S. policymakers (who considered banning TikTok in the U.S.), Yass increased his political contributions, directing over $46 million to Republican candidates. Donald Trump, who had once sought to ban TikTok, shifted his stance after meeting with Yass.
Criticism
As of early 2024, Jeff Yass’s fortune was valued at $27.6 billion, making him the wealthiest person in Pennsylvania. Despite his remarkable success, Yass faces criticism for his business practices, particularly regarding his tax strategies. For years, Yass has paid significantly lower federal taxes than other prominent American traders. He has crafted trading strategies specifically to reduce his tax obligations. This tax savings has contributed significantly to his wealth accumulation. To legitimize his actions, he has invested considerable sums in political initiatives and the promotion of favorable politicians.
According to a 2022 report by ProPublica, Yass managed to avoid paying at least $1 billion in taxes over just six years. One of his main tax-saving methods is an investment approach known as “straddle,” which involves betting for and against certain stocks or markets, allowing his company to secure long-term gains taxed at a much lower rate.
Personal Life
Jeff Yass is an avid art collector and a sports enthusiast. The entrepreneur is married to Janine Coslett and has four children. Janine is devoted to transformational education. She believes that an effective educational environment is fostered by policies allowing educators the autonomy to develop and support students’ needs.
After the COVID-19 pandemic, Janine observed a significant disparity among the most disadvantaged students. In 2021, she established the Yass Prize, awarded to top educational organizations in each state. The Yass Prize and the STOP Awards initiative aim to expand educational opportunities for students and grant freedom to parents and teachers across the country. In 2023, over $20 million was awarded to prize recipients.
In 2021, Jeff Yass donated $5 million to the School Freedom Fund, which supports candidates who believe that parents, not unelected educational bureaucrats, should be responsible for their children’s education.