Douglas A. Cifu

Douglas A. Cifu is the Vice Chairman, Partner and Alternate Governor of Sunrise Sports & Entertainment, the Florida Panthers Hockey Club, BB&T Center, and SSE's additional operating entities.

Cifu, and Owner Vincent J. Viola, purchased the Panthers enterprise on Sept. 27, 2013. A native of Syosset, N.Y., Cifu graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University in 1987 where he was elected a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and completed his J.D. from Columbia Law School in 1990.

Cifu is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Virtu Financial, LLC a global electronic market making firm and was one of the company's co-founders with Vincent Viola in 2008. Mr. Cifu also serves on the board of Independent Bank of Texas (NASDAQ: IBTX), a community banking chain based in Mckinney, Texas and Eastern Airlines, inc.

Prior to joining Virtu, Cifu practiced law for 18 years and was a partner at the international law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. While there, Cifu served as a member of the Management Committee, was Deputy Chair of the Corporate Department, and co-head of the Private Equity Group. Highly regarded by his peers, Cifu was recognized in Chambers USA and Legal 500 as a leading mergers and acquisitions lawyer for buyouts and private equity transactions.

Cifu has a residence in Mirasol, Fla. with his wife, Melissa Lautenberg Cifu, their daughter, Rachel, and son, Daniel.