The LSE Directory / Fintech founders
William R. Cruz co-founded Omega Research, Inc. (later renamed TradeStation Group) in 1982 together with his brother Rafael Cruz, building software that let traders without formal programming backgrounds design, test, and automate trading strategies. He served as the company's Chief Executive Officer, and later Co-Chief Executive Officer, from 1982 until his retirement from that role on February 15, 2007, and has served as Co-Chairman of the Board since 1996. Born in Cuba, Cruz emigrated to the United States with his family in 1966 and trained as a violinist at the University of Miami and the Juilliard School before leaving college to start the company with his brother from a room in their parents' Florida home. TradeStation grew from a boxed software vendor into an online brokerage and trading-technology platform, and was acquired by Monex Group in 2011 for approximately $402 million.
