Finance · Profile from Finance Research Companion
Cboe Global Markets
The company that invented the modern listed options market. Founded in Chicago in April 1973 by members of the Chicago Board of Trade as the Chicago Board Options Exchange, it opened a month before the Black-Scholes pricing paper was published, created index options on the S&P 100 and S&P 500 in 1983, and in 1993 launched the VIX, the "fear gauge" that became both a household number and a trading product. It demutualised and listed in June 2010 (IPO at $29), bought the equities exchange operator Bats Global Markets for ~$3.2bn in 2017, and became a multi-asset exchange group across US and European options, equities, futures and FX. Its profit engine is narrow and very strong: proprietary, exclusively licensed S&P 500 (SPX) and VIX options, whose volume has exploded with zero-days-to-expiry ("0DTE") trading. Cboe reported record 2025 net revenue of ~$2.4bn (+17%) and diluted EPS of $10.42; its failures are just as instructive: bitcoin futures abandoned in 2019, the February 2018 "Volmageddon" collapse of products built on its VIX, a written-off crypto exchange (2022–24) and, in 2025–26, a retreat from Australia, Canada and Japan under a new CEO, former CME chief Craig Donohue.
At a glance
- Founded
- April 26, 1973 (Chicago Board Options Exchange, created by Chicago Board of Trade members); CBOE Holdings formed 2006–07; renamed Cboe Global Markets 2017 after the Bats deal
- Founders / key builders
- Joseph W. Sullivan (first president); CBOT leadership including Edmund O'Connor and David Goldberg (reported); Robert Whaley (VIX designer, 1993); William Brodsky (CEO 1997–2013); Edward Tilly (CEO 2013–23)
- Headquarters
- Chicago, Illinois
- Ownership / structure
- Public company since June 15, 2010 (originally Nasdaq: CBOE; moved its listing to its own Cboe BZX exchange after 2017). Former member-owned exchange; demutualised in 2010
- Leadership (2026)
- Craig Donohue, CEO (since May 7, 2025; CME Group CEO 2004–12); Fredric Tomczyk, CEO 2023–25 and director; Jill Griebenow, CFO (verify); William Farrow, chair (verify)
- Segments / products
- Options (SPX, XSP, VIX options; multi-listed equity and ETF options on four US options exchanges: Cboe Options, C2, BZX Options, EDGX Options); North American Equities (BZX, BYX, EDGX, EDGA; Cboe Canada until its sale); Europe and Asia Pacific (Cboe Europe equities, Cboe Clear Europe; Cboe Australia sold July 2026; Cboe Japan wound down); Futures (Cboe Futures Exchange, CFE: VIX futures, crypto futures); Global FX (Cboe FX, formerly Hotspot); Data Vantage (market data, access, analytics, indices); Cboe Predicts (event contracts, 2026)
- Scale
- Record ~4.6bn US options contracts traded in 2025 across its four options exchanges; ~30.5% US multi-listed options share (Q3 2026); total options ADV ~21.3m contracts in Q3 2026 (+14%), index options ADV ~6.1m (+24%) (company)
- Revenue and profit
- 2025 net revenue ~$2.4bn (+17%, record); diluted EPS $10.42, adjusted $10.67 (company, February 6, 2026). Q3 2026 net revenue $712.2m (+18%); diluted EPS $4.08 (company, October 30, 2026)
- Capital / regulatory status
- Operator of SEC-registered national securities exchanges (self-regulatory organisations), a CFTC-registered designated contract market (CFE) and clearing entities (Cboe Clear Europe; Cboe Clear Digital). US listed options clear through the Options Clearing Corporation (OCC), which Cboe co-owns with other options exchanges
- Signature moves (incl. failures)
- Listed options (1973); index options OEX/SPX (1983); the VIX and volatility products (1993–2006); demutualisation and IPO (2010); Bats acquisition (2017); bitcoin futures launch and withdrawal (2017–19); Volmageddon and VIX manipulation claims (2018); Cboe Digital and the crypto spot exit (2022–24); the 0DTE boom (2022–26); strategic realignment and divestitures under Donohue (2025–26)
10 strategic moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
1973
Listed Options Exchange
Founding / launch
1983
Index Options OEX and SPX
Launch
1993
VIX and Volatility Products
Launch
2010
Demutualisation and IPO
IPO / restructuring (demutualisation)
2017
Bats Acquisition
Acquisition
2017
Bitcoin Futures Launch and Withdrawal
Launch (failure)
2018
Volmageddon and VIX Manipulation Claims
Failure (product-ecosystem collapse) / litigation
2022
0DTE Options Boom
Launch / product expansion
2022
Cboe Digital and Crypto Spot Exit
Acquisition (written off) / divestiture (spot market closed)
2025
Strategic Realignment and Divestitures
Restructuring / divestiture