Work Experience
Partner
Montauk Distilling Company
Montauk Distilling Company (MDC) was founded in August 2013 with the mission to create and deliver world-class spirits to world-class individuals. MDC produces award-winning spirits aimed at every consumer level and most notably handcrafts, distills, and bottles their spirits in small batches yielding an exclusive taste. Following a virtuous process, the distillery focuses on sustainability and partners with local farmers. Tom, who formerly bartended in his college days, invested in the company in 2017 and is now Partner. The distillery is located in Riverhead, NY on the north fork of Long Island.
Chief Executive Officer
Knight Capital Group
Before the Montauk Distilling Co, Tom was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Knight Capital Group. He joined Knight in May 2002 where he was Head of Global Trading. Tom is widely credited with rebuilding Knight into an industry leader, taking the company from less than $500M in annual revenues to approximately $1.2B in revenues with $250M pre-tax profits a decade later. Under Tom’s leadership, Knight became one of the top equity trading firms in the US, handing over two billion shares daily, regularly. Tom also started Direct Edge which is a stock exchange that operates two separate platforms, EDGA Exchange and EDGX Exchange. It is also one of the largest stock exchanges in the U.S.
When the firm suffered a serious trading error in August of 2012 that resulted in a loss of $440M and jeopardized the firm’s future, Tom and his team was able to source several key investors to recapitalize and save the company from bankruptcy. He then led a remarkable comeback, which restored Knight to its preeminent position within the industry.
Merrill Lynch
Tom spent close to fifteen years at Merrill Lynch where he managed several major equity businesses. Tom's most recent position at Merrill Lynch was Head of Global Equity eCommerce with responsibility for creating the equity trading component of Merrill Lynch's portal for institutional clients. He co-developed TheMarkets.com, an industry research portal for institutional equity investors. In addition to his work on technology, Tom was responsible for directing the firm's market structure efforts and initiatives with the Securities & Exchange Commission, New York Stock Exchange, and NASDAQ. Tom also was involved in many of Merrill Lynch's equity business investments including acquiring an equity stake in Archipelago and acquisition of Herzog Heine Geduld.
As Head of U.S. Equities for Merrill Lynch from 1996 to 1999, Tom oversaw all aspects of the firm's domestic Institutional equities. The Merrill Lynch institutional equities business, while under Tom’s leadership, was ranked number one in the industry.
In September 1993, Tom relocated to London and inherited a niche cross-border trading business as Head of European Equities in London. By 1996, the operation had expanded and acquired Smith New Court, Britain's largest independent stockbroker.