| Alex Gerko | |
| Birth Date: | 3 December 1979 |
| Occupation: | Businessman and Entrepreneur |
| Known For: | Founder & owner of XTX Markets |
| Children: | 3 |
Alex Gerko (born 3 December 1979) is a financial trader and founder of XTX Markets based in the United Kingdom.[1] [2]
Born in Russia, he has a PhD from Moscow State University.[3] Initially, Gerko started his career trading equities at Deutsche Bank in 2004, and then moved into foreign exchange trading.[4]
In 2009, he joined GSA Capital, a UK-based hedge fund, where he stayed until 2015.[5]
In January 2015, Gerko founded XTX Markets, an algorithmic trading company that uses algorithms to trade the difference in market prices across a variety of venues.[6] Gerko holds a 75 per cent majority interest in the company.
In 2022, the company reported a 64% increase in profits to £1.1 billion.
Since 2020 Gerko has donated £25 million to out-of-class maths clubs, through the Axiom Maths charity (formerly Mathematics Education for Social Mobility and Excellence), which Gerko set up.[7] [8]
Gerko moved to the UK in 2006. He lives with his wife and three children in North London.[9] In 2022, Gerko renounced his Russian citizenship after a lengthy legal process. He is a British citizen.
As of August 2023, Gerko's net worth is estimated at £8.5 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.[10]
In January 2024, he was named as the largest taxpayer in the UK by the Sunday Times Tax List, paying £664.5 million in tax.[11] In the Sunday Times Rich List 2024 ranking of the wealthiest people in the UK he was placed 12th with an estimated net worth of £12.055 billion.[12] In July 2024 Gerko lost a legal appeal against HM Revenue & Customs regarding the taxation of a deferred payment plan from his time at hedge fund GSA Capital between 2010 and 2015. The Court of Appeal ruled that Gerko and other traders should pay income tax on their share of trading profits, rather than the lower corporation tax rate they had argued for.[13]