Vlad Tenev.

Vlad Tenev is the Co-Founder and CEO of Robinhood, the fintech platform that democratized stock market investing by eliminating trading commissions.

Born in Bulgaria, Tenev immigrated to the United States as a child and went on to study mathematics and physics at Stanford University. He co-founded Robinhood in 2013 with the mission of making financial markets accessible to everyone, not just the wealthy. The platform grew to over 20 million users and forced the entire brokerage industry-including giants like Charles Schwab, E*Trade, and TD Ameritrade-to eliminate trading commissions. Robinhood went public in 2021 and has since expanded into cryptocurrency, retirement accounts, and credit cards. While the company has faced regulatory scrutiny and controversy, particularly around the GameStop trading event of 2021, its fundamental impact on democratizing investing is undeniable. Tenev's vision of opening financial markets to ordinary Americans has permanently changed the retail investing landscape.