Robert Greifeld is the current CEO of the Nasdaq-OMX Stock Market, Inc., the largest electronic screen-based equity securities market in the United States. Greifeld has focused the NASDAQ-OMX mission on being the premier U.S equities market, leveraging NASDAQ-OMX's fundamental market structure advantage.

Life and career

Greifeld was born in Queens

Queens

Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....

, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, to an Italian American

Italian American

An Italian American , is an American of Italian ancestry. The designation may also refer to someone possessing Italian and American dual citizenship...

 mother and a father of Irish and German descent. He has a 20-year history in technology, and as an entrepreneur created one of the first electronic stock order matching systems. He has led NASDAQ-OMX to nine straight quarters of top line growth. The year 2006 was NASDAQ-OMX’s most successful since it began reporting financials in 1997; and in 2005, NASDAQ-OMX’s stock was the number one performer across all markets.

Greifeld is an outspoken advocate for efficient capital markets, good regulation and ensuring that the U.S. markets continue to support business growth and innovation. He is a current member of the Committee on Capital Markets Regulation

Committee on Capital Markets Regulation

The Committee on Capital Markets Regulation is an independent and nonpartisan 501 research organization dedicated to improving the regulation of U.S. capital markets.-Background:...

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Prior to joining NASDAQ in May 2003, Greifeld was an executive Vice-President with SunGard Data Systems, Inc., a $6.2 billion market cap company. Greifeld holds a master's degree in business from the New York University Stern School of Business

New York University Stern School of Business

The Leonard N. Stern School of Business is New York University's business school. It was established in 1900 as the NYU School of Commerce, Accounts and Finance. In 1988 it was named after Leonard N. Stern, an alumnus and benefactor of the school...

, and a B.A. in English from Iona College

Iona College (New York)

Iona College is located in New Rochelle, New York, 20 miles north of Manhattan in suburban Westchester County. The college occupies 35 acres on North Ave. The college also operates a Graduate Center in Pearl River, Rockland County, New York....

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Greifeld came to media attention in 2006 when he under oath in the New Jersey Superior Court

New Jersey Superior Court

The Superior Court is the state court in the U.S. state of New Jersey, with state-wide trial and appellate jurisdiction. The Superior Court has three divisions: the Appellate Division is essentially an intermediate appellate court while the Law and Chancery Divisions function as trial courts...

 admitted to not knowing how to calculate gross profit margin, one of the most rudimentary formulas in business accounting

Accountancy

Accountancy is the process of communicating financial information about a business entity to users such as shareholders and managers. The communication is generally in the form of financial statements that show in money terms the economic resources under the control of management; the art lies in...

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Greifeld gave the commencement address at Simon's Rock College of Bard

Simon's Rock College of Bard

Bard College at Simon's Rock, more commonly known as Simon's Rock , is a residential four-year liberal arts college located in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, USA...

 for the graduates of 2007 on May 19.

Greifeld resides with his wife and family in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey.