Jane Street Capital, the secret quantitative trading shop best known as the former employer of Sam Bankman-Friedemerges quietly like a wall Street central. With total assets increasing to $140.2 billion in 2024—an increase of 34 percent from last year—it even exceeded Bridgewater Associatesthe largest hedge fund in the world in terms of assets under management. Last year, the New York-based company was pretty much behind one in ten stock transactions in North America, according to a Financial Times analysis of its bond prospectus. And it’s set for a record in 2024, with $8.4 billion in net trading revenue in the first half alone, an increase of 78% year-on-year, according to Bloomberg.

Quantitative trading companies like Jane Street differ from hedge funds and mutual funds in that they trade solely with their own capital rather than managing funds from external investors, focusing on short-term algorithmic trading. About 80 percent of Jane StreetThe capital of is made up of the shareholders’ equity, i.e. approximately 21.3 billion starting in 2023. This proprietary model exempts quantitative firms from the detailed disclosure requirements imposed on hedge funds, allowing them to avoid revealing trading strategies and financial details.

Jane Street currently suing the hedge fund Millennial Management for stealing one of his most lucrative business strategies. Court records revealed that Jane Street earned $1 billion in net revenue from India’s options and futures markets in 2023 through what its lawyer called the company’s “most profitable strategy.” (The company generated $10 billion in net trading revenue in 2023.) Jane Street claimed that its profits from the India strategy halved in March only because Millennium was “using the same strategy.”

Jane Street also revealed the benefits of the ETF market, in which it is a major player. The company accounts for approximately 14 percent of all ETF trading in the United States and 20 percent of ETF volumes in Europe. As an “authorized participant” – an entity with the exclusive ability to create and redeem ETF shares directly with the issuer in order to balance supply and demand –Jane Street plays a crucial role in ensuring that ETF prices remain aligned with their underlying assets.

This unique status, traditionally dominated by historic banks, allows Jane Street to earn substantial income by managing liquidity and arbitrage opportunities within the ETF ecosystem. Last year, the company managed 24 percent of primary market activity for U.S.-listed ETFs, 28 percent for international equity ETFs and 41 percent for fixed-income ETFs.

Attract the best talent with the best salaries

Jane Street‘s rise isn’t just about strategy, it’s also about attracting top talent with exorbitant compensation. Beginning traders can expect a base salary as high as $300,000, while summer interns can earn up to $250,000 (pro rata). Such salaries trump first-year investment bankers, who can expect $200,000including a bonus, for one year of remuneration. Jane Street is known for selectively recruiting from top colleges like MIT, Stanford, and Harvard and graduates from top Ph.D.s. programs.

A quantitative business uses advanced mathematical models and algorithms to drive its trading strategies, which requires a diverse workforce including quantitative analysts, data scientists, software engineers, and risk managers. Today, Rue Jeanne has 2,600 employees in six offices around the world (New York, London, Hong Kong, Singapore, Amsterdam and Chicago), according to its website. Its workforce is similar to competitors like DE Shaw (2,500), Two Sigma (2,100) and Susquehanna International Group (SIG) (3,000).

Jane Street was founded in 2000 by Michael Jenkins, Tim Reynolds, Rob Granieri And Marc Gerstein; the latter three were previously traders at SIG, an elite trading firm based in Philadelphia. Granieri is said to be the only founder still in the company. Reynolds now manages luxury resorts that fund the arts education of low-income students. Jane Street did not respond to an Observer inquiry about Jenkins and Gerstein’s current roles. Today, the company is run by a group of 30 to 40 senior executives whose names remain largely secret.