Trading & Options · Profile from Trading and Options Research Companion
tastytrade
The Chicago options-and-futures brokerage and financial-video network built by Tom Sosnoff and partners after they sold their first options broker, thinkorswim, to TD Ameritrade (announced 8 Jan 2009 at ~$606m). tastytrade began as a live online network in 2011, opened its own brokerage, tastyworks, in 2017, and was bought by the London-listed IG Group for $1.0bn ($300m cash and 61.0m IG shares; announced 21–22 Jan 2021, completed 28 Jun 2021). In 2020 it had $116.2m of revenue, $49.0m profit before tax, over 105,000 active accounts and 1.3% of US equity-options volume (IG announcement, unaudited US GAAP). For a trading book tastytrade is the clearest case of education as distribution: a media business teaches a short-premium philosophy — sell options when implied volatility is high, "trade small, trade often", manage winners at 50% — and a brokerage priced for frequent options trading collects the commissions and order-flow payments. The philosophy rests on a documented risk premium (section 03); the specific management rules rest mostly on the firm's own studies (rule 4(d)–(e)). Its story turns on discipline sold at retail scale — and on who earns the edge when customers trade often.
At a glance
- Founded
- 2011 as a financial media network (IG announcement, Jan 2021); brokerage tastyworks launched 2017 (same); FINRA member since March 2016 (FINRA AWC 2017056224801)
- Predecessor
- thinkorswim, founded 1999 by Tom Sosnoff and Scott Sheridan as an online options broker (Wikipedia); merged into Investools (Feb 2007); sold to TD Ameritrade (announced 8 Jan 2009, ~$606m; closed Jun 2009) (1999 move; 2009 move)
- Founders / management at sale (Jan 2021)
- Tom Sosnoff (co-CEO), Kristi Ross (co-CEO and president), Scott Sheridan (CEO, tastyworks), Linwood Ma (CTO) (IG announcement)
- Headquarters
- Chicago, Illinois; ~145 employees (Jan 2021, IG announcement); "over 80 registered representatives in its one office" (FINRA AWC, 2026)
- Ownership / structure
- Private, backed by TCV and Lightbank, until 28 Jun 2021; since then a division of IG Group Holdings plc (LSE). The media arm was renamed tastylive in Dec 2022; the brokerage tastyworks, Inc. was renamed tastytrade, Inc. in Feb 2023 (tastylive FAQ; FINRA AWC)
- Businesses
- Brokerage (options, futures, futures options, equities, crypto); tastylive media network; earlier ventures named in the 2021 announcement: the Quiet Foundation (2018), the "dough" app (Sep 2019), an Australian brokerage (2019), a Canadian launch in progress, and the Small Exchange (2020)
- Scale (dated)
- 2020: revenue $116.2m (+44%), adjusted EBITDA $54.1m, PBT $49.0m; >105,000 active accounts; ~900,000 registrants; trade mix 84% options, 9% futures, 7% equities (IG announcement, unaudited). CY2025: IG's US segment net trading revenue £186.7m (+18%; +23% in US dollars), of which exchange-traded derivatives £153.2m; US assets under administration £18.2bn at 31 Dec 2025 (IG results, 19 Mar 2026, via Finance Magnates)
- Regulators
- SEC and FINRA (broker-dealer, CRD 277027); CFTC and NFA for futures (from memory, verify registration); clearing through an unaffiliated clearing broker (FINRA AWC)
- Signature moves (incl. failures)
- Founding thinkorswim (1999); selling it to TD Ameritrade (2009); launching tastytrade the network (2011); the short-premium philosophy and its evidence (2011–); launching tastyworks (2017); sale to IG Group (2021) and the rebrands (2022–23); FINRA settlements over best execution and supervision (2024–26)
7 strategic moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
1999
Founding thinkorswim Options Broker
Founding or fund launch (an online options brokerage)
2009
Sale of thinkorswim to TD Ameritrade
Acquisition, merger or IPO (sale of the firm)
2011
Short Premium Philosophy and Its Evidence
Strategy pivot / evidence claim (a retail rule set taught at scale)
2011
tastytrade Financial Network Launch
New strategy, product or market (media as distribution)
2017
tastyworks Brokerage Launch
New strategy, product or market (own brokerage)
2021
Sale to IG Group
Acquisition, merger or IPO (sale of the firm)
2026
FINRA Best Execution and Supervision Settlements
Regulatory, enforcement or legal action (failure of controls)