Team Structure

Peng Zhao

Chief Executive Officer

Peng Zhao joined Citadel Securities from graduate school as a Senior Quantitative Researcher in 2006. He became the firm’s Chief Executive Officer in 2017.

One of the early architects of Citadel Securities, Peng was quickly recognized not only as a remarkable statistician, but also as a leader whose passion and performance brought out the best in others. Peng’s rapid ascent reflects the culture of meritocracy he continues to foster at the firm.

Under Peng’s leadership, Citadel Securities has accelerated its global growth across products, markets, and regions. Today, the firm delivers a broad range of equity and fixed income products to 1,600 global clients in 50 countries and jurisdictions around the world.

Peng earned his PhD in statistics from the University of California, Berkeley, where he was a Berkeley Fellow. He received his bachelor’s degree in applied mathematics from Peking University.

A committed civic leader, Peng is a founding board member of The Asian American Foundation and serves on the board of directors of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations.

Jim Esposito

President

As President of Citadel Securities, Jim Esposito is responsible for driving the long-term growth and success of the firm’s client and partner relationships globally.

Jim was previously co-head of the Global Banking and Markets Division at Goldman Sachs. During his 29-year tenure at Goldman Sachs Jim served on the management committee, co-chaired the partnership committee, and was a member of the diversity and inclusion committee. Previously, Jim was co-head of the Global Investment Banking and Global Markets Divisions before they were combined and earlier in his career was co-head of the Global Financing Group.

Jim earned a Bachelor of Arts from Brown University and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. Jim is a Trustee at Brown, serves on the Board of Overseers at Tuck and is a board member of Beat the Streets New England.

Matt Culek

Chief Operating Officer

Matt Culek joined Citadel Securities in 2012 as Chief Operating Officer of the firm’s client-facing equity, options, FX and ETF businesses. His success in the role led to his rapid rise to Global Head of Business Management and, subsequently, Chief Operating Officer of the firm.

Matt works closely with CEO Peng Zhao on firm-wide strategy and management and oversees leaders responsible for Citadel Securities’ day-to-day operations. Matt has driven the firm’s expansion into new products, markets and regions, overseeing the launches of new businesses around the globe. As the firm has grown, his role has broadened to also include responsibility for its senior-level relationships with exchanges and business partners.

Prior to joining Citadel Securities, Matt served as an Associate Principal at McKinsey & Company and as a Capital Markets Associate at Lehman Brothers.

Matt received his MBA, with distinction, from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a bachelor’s degree in physics and mathematics from the University of Nebraska Omaha.