Blair Hull

Blair Hull

M. Blair Hull (born September 3, 1942) is an American businessman, investor, Democratic politician, and philanthropist.

Hull founded Hull Trading Company in 1985 and served as the firm’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer before selling it to Goldman Sachs in 1999 for $531 million. The company, which leveraged technological innovations and quantitative models, was one of the world's premier market-making firms, trading on 28 exchanges in nine countries. Hull went on to found Matlock Capital, and is now founder and managing partner of Ketchum Trading, LLC, a proprietary trading firm that trades and provides liquidity in futures, options, cash equities and exchange-traded funds.

Blair Hull is personally credited with buffering the crash of Black Monday in 1987 when he bought the bottom of the market and restored liquidity and confidence to the panicked financial markets. Trader Monthly recognized him for having executed one of “The 40 Greatest Trades of All Time,” and Worth Magazine named him one of “Wall Street’s 25 Smartest Players.”

A longtime political activist and donor, Blair Hull sought the Illinois Democratic Party’s nomination as candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2004 as a champion of universal healthcare and efficiency in government. Barack Obama ultimately won that primary. Blair Hull remains active in the political arena as both an activist and donor, and is a partner in the Democracy Alliance.