As the first member of his family to graduate college, Rich Mackey began his career as a broker in the Chicago Board of Trade’s Ten-Year Note pit where he executed orders for institutional customers and investment banks. That first day on the floor, he realized he was in the industry he wanted to be in for the rest of his career. For the next 20 years, he held multiple roles within the industry before he was appointed CEO of Prime Trading in 2022.
“Under Rich’s leadership, Prime maintains its risk culture while embracing cutting-edge technology,” said his colleagues. “He has the same enthusiasm for the futures industry as he did the first day walking on the trading floor as a runner.”
Prime Trading is an industry-leading, privately-held, proprietary trading firm, providing traders with the latest technology and support services to maximize profits while limiting market risk.
Under Mackey’s leadership, he has been instrumental in building out the back-office operations, created a strong support team and foundation that will allow the company to continue to bring on new traders and explore new strategies. He has also focused on employee development by hosting industry leading experts to present to the prime team. “Without his strong backbone, growth initiatives would not be possible,” said his staff.
Three years ago, Rich and Prime’s board outlined a plan to increase its capital base, improve its technology stack and attract new talent to build off Prime’s 35-year legacy of success. With Mackey’s guidance, the firm has built out a strong logistical foundation and the firm has stronger operations, accounting, compliance and technology teams to support the anticipated growth in trading groups and trading volumes.
“Rich has been able to put the right people in the right seats,” said his colleagues. “He has a passion for the business and wants to share that with others. He also understands that knowledge is power and tries to pass on as much information as possible.”
His passion for knowledge resulted in a new trader trainee program – Prime Alpha – that will serve as the cornerstone of the company’s quantitative trading efforts to drive future growth and allow further diversification in revenue streams.
“In one word, Rich is a connector,” said his colleagues. “He has a large network and enjoys bringing people and teams together to achieve mutually beneficial goals.”
Mackey has been named a titan for his passion for the industry and growth.
