Ronan Ryan is an Irish-American businessperson. He is the president of IEX, the Investor's Exchange, and an electronic trading expert. As a founding member of IEX, Ryan was a central character featured in Michael Lewis’ Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt.[1]Irish America magazine named Ryan to its 2014 and 2015 Wall Street 50 list.[2][3]
Background
Born and raised in Dublin, he moved to America in 1990, when he was 16.[4]
Ryan graduated from Fairfield University in 1996 with a Bachelor's degree in International Studies.[6] During his time at Fairfield, Ryan was a member of the cross country team and he was the school mascot, Lucas the Stag.[7]
Flash Boys
Since Michael Lewis' book Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt was released in March 2014, Ryan has experienced rising popularity. As a networking infrastructure expert, Ryan shared his knowledge of colocation and high-frequency trading with Lewis, which became a large focus in Flash Boys.[8] Ryan does not believe all high-frequency trading is bad, but there are certain strategies in high-frequency that Ryan believes front-run large, institutional orders.[8]