Pete Najarian

Pete Najarian, the “Pit Boss,” was ranked one of the top 100 traders by Trader Monthly magazine and in 2005 co-founded, together with his brother Jon “DRJ” Najarian, the options news and education firm optionMONSTER, and leading online brokerage firm tradeMONSTER. Both were acquired in 2014 by private equity firm General Atlantic Partners and they sold the firm to E*Trade for $750 million in September of 2016. Following a football career that included several seasons with the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Minnesota Vikings, Pete took up options trading in 1992 joining his brother Jon at Mercury Trading, a market-making firm at the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE). Two years later, he assumed responsibility for Mercury’s risk and arbitrage and later led its entry onto the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). He also led Mercury’s joint venture with M.J. Meehan, the third-largest specialist firm on the NYSE. From 2000 to 2004, Najarian served as president of Mercury, and helped execute its sale to Citadel, one of the world’s largest hedge funds. Before starting optionMONSTER, he has been a founding member of One Chicago, an electronic exchange committed to becoming the global leader in futures on individual stocks, narrow-based indexes, and ETFs. He is also the Co-Founder of Hedgehog stock, options, and futures trading platform and together with brother Jon, co-developed the Heat Seeker™ and complementary programs identifying unusual buying activity in stocks, options, and futures. In 2016 Pete and his brother Jon co-founded Najarian Advisors, a company advising institutional investors on options strategies. The brothers also invest in and work with start-ups via Rebellion Partners, a venture consulting firm they launched in 2015. Pete is one of the “Fast Money Five” on CNBC’s “Fast Money” as well as a cast member of CNBC’s “Halftime Report.” He also contributes to CBOE-TV, the exchange’s popular webcast. Pete graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in physiology.