Vladimir Tenev is an American entrepreneur and the co-founder, Chairman, and CEO of Robinhood Markets, Inc. Born in Varna, Bulgaria on February 13, 1987, he immigrated to the United States at age five. He earned a B.S. in Mathematics from Stanford University, where he met his future co-founder Baiju Bhatt, and later an M.S. in Mathematics from UCLA.
Before Robinhood, Tenev co-founded Celeris, a high-frequency trading software company, in 2010. The venture was abandoned by January 2011. He then co-founded Chronos Research, a low-latency trading software firm, which operated from January 2011 until 2013.
In 2013, Tenev and Bhatt co-founded Robinhood, the commission-free trading platform that reshaped retail brokerage. Initially serving as co-CEO with Bhatt, Tenev became the sole CEO in November 2020. Under his leadership, Robinhood went public in 2021 and has since explored adjacent markets, including online sports betting, signaling a strategic expansion into the iGaming industry.
Career History
| Company | Role | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Robinhood | Co-founder & Co-CEO | 2013-01-01 – 2020-01-01 |
| Robinhood | Chairman & CEO | – present |