https://www.inquirer.com/business/t...philadelphia-fortune-15-billion-20201003.html
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Susquehanna International Group, the secretive shop of options maestros based in Bala Cynwyd, made its mark as a fast trader. But it could also be a patient investor.
Susquehanna made one of its most significant bets in that mode — and may be closing in on a massive payday as a result.
As the earliest U.S. backer of the social media app TikTok, Susquehanna holds an immense stake in the newly controversial China-based giant. The question for Susquehanna now is how President Donald Trump’s campaign to force a sale of TikTok over national security concerns will shake out.
The drama is unfolding just over a decade after the Montgomery County company first recognized the genius of TikTok’s founder, engineer Zhang Yi Ming, and began backing him in a series of ventures.
As for Susquehanna, it was founded in 1987 on the floor of the old Philadelphia Stock Exchange by a gang of SUNY-Binghamton grads who had been banned from casinos for using math to beat the house. Its publicity-shy founders, Jeff Yass and Arthur Dantchik, have built it into a 2,000-trader powerhouse known for using poker games to train new hires and for making big bets on small movements in hot stocks.
Susquehanna began backing Zhang before he thought of TikTok. A graduate of the computer science program at a university 70 miles from Beijing, Zhang worked briefly for Microsoft in the United States before developing 99Fang (“99 Rooms"), a travel site. His product impressed Susquehanna’s pioneering China team, which invested in 2009.
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Susquehanna International Group, the secretive shop of options maestros based in Bala Cynwyd, made its mark as a fast trader. But it could also be a patient investor.
Susquehanna made one of its most significant bets in that mode — and may be closing in on a massive payday as a result.
As the earliest U.S. backer of the social media app TikTok, Susquehanna holds an immense stake in the newly controversial China-based giant. The question for Susquehanna now is how President Donald Trump’s campaign to force a sale of TikTok over national security concerns will shake out.
The drama is unfolding just over a decade after the Montgomery County company first recognized the genius of TikTok’s founder, engineer Zhang Yi Ming, and began backing him in a series of ventures.
As for Susquehanna, it was founded in 1987 on the floor of the old Philadelphia Stock Exchange by a gang of SUNY-Binghamton grads who had been banned from casinos for using math to beat the house. Its publicity-shy founders, Jeff Yass and Arthur Dantchik, have built it into a 2,000-trader powerhouse known for using poker games to train new hires and for making big bets on small movements in hot stocks.
Susquehanna began backing Zhang before he thought of TikTok. A graduate of the computer science program at a university 70 miles from Beijing, Zhang worked briefly for Microsoft in the United States before developing 99Fang (“99 Rooms"), a travel site. His product impressed Susquehanna’s pioneering China team, which invested in 2009.
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(continued at the link above)
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