Billionaire trader Alex Gerko earned £682mn from his firm XTX Markets in 2024, according to filings cited by the Financial Times. The payout highlights both the rapid growth of the London-based market maker and the extraordinary rewards of quantitative finance.

£1.28bn Shared Among Founder and Traders

A total of £1.28bn was distributed between Gerko and 30 quantitative traders last year, the FT reported, citing filings at Companies House. The group of traders received £597million while Gerko took the largest share.

The payout was reportedly the biggest in XTX’s ten-year history and represented a 71% increase on the £747mn distributed in 2023. The number of profit-sharing traders rose from 25 to 30 over the year.

XTX recorded £1.3bn in post-tax profits in 2024, a 54% rise on the previous year, according to the FT. That performance put the firm among the UK’s most profitable private businesses.

The company uses large-scale computing power to exploit small price discrepancies across global markets. It processes around $250bn worth of trades every day and operates on currency, debt, equity, commodity, and crypto markets. Its models are powered by 25,000 AI chips, mostly sourced from Nvidia.

Leadership and Investments

Gerko owns about 75% of the company and has traditionally managed XTX alongside a co-chief executive. Former JPMorgan executive Hans Buehler was the most recent co-head before stepping down this summer to return to academia, the FT noted.

XTX is investing €1bn in a new data centre in Finland to handle its growing computing needs. Outside the business, Gerko has supported the creation of a mathematics school in north London and has invested in AI-focused start-ups, including Anthropic and Wayve.

The FT reported that Gerko, a Russia-born mathematician, is now among the UK’s wealthiest people and the country’s largest individual taxpayer, according to Sunday Times estimates. He set up a family office last year, named after a planet from the sci-fi series Rick and Morty, to manage his wealth.

Expect ongoing updates as this story evolves.

Source: Finance Magnates