Jeff Yass
American options trader and investor; co-founder of Susquehanna International Group and major Republican donor
| Jeff Yass
| |
|---|---|
| Born | 17 7 1958 (age 68 years old (as of 2026)
) United States |
| Occupation | trader, investor |
| Known for | Co-founder of Susquehanna International Group |
| Education | SUNY Binghamton (BS) |
Jeff Yass (born 17 July 1958) is an American options trader and investor, a co-founder of the trading firm Susquehanna International Group (SIG), which is a large early shareholder in ByteDance, the owner of TikTok.[1][2] Federal Election Commission data show that he has been one of the largest donors to Republican-aligned committees, and he is the main funder of the school-choice political network in Pennsylvania.[3][4] On 20 October 2026 the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires list ranked Jeff Yass 27th in the world, with an estimated net worth of US$77.79 billion; Forbes lists the source of wealth as Trading, investments.[1][5] In the annual World's Billionaires list published in 2026, Forbes had ranked Jeff Yass 28th, at US$67.4 billion.[6]
Early life and education
Forbes gives his date of birth as 17 July 1958 and lists a Bachelor of Science from SUNY Binghamton.[1] Forbes says that for a college economics class he wrote a paper on the econometrics of horse racing, which was later published in Gambling Times. It also says he became a professional gambler before he began trading on the Philadelphia Stock Exchange in 1981, with backing from the investor Israel Englander.[1]
Business career
Forbes says that in 1987 Yass and a small group of partners founded Susquehanna, now a major options trader and market maker with more than 3,000 employees worldwide. The firm uses poker tournaments to recruit and train traders.[1] Susquehanna has invested in hundreds of private companies, and Forbes identifies ByteDance as its most valuable holding.[1] CNBC reported in March 2024 that Susquehanna first invested in ByteDance in 2012, that it owned about 15% of the company, and that Yass's personal share was about 7%, worth roughly US$21 billion.[2] Forbes's 2022 text also mentioned a Dublin-based Susquehanna unit, Nellie Analytics, which makes markets in online sports betting.[1]
Wealth
Forbes gives the source of Yass's wealth as trading and investments, chiefly his stake in Susquehanna and its private holdings.[1] In June 2022 ProPublica, drawing on leaked IRS data, reported that Yass had received more than US$1 billion a year in income and had paid an average federal income tax rate of 19%. It estimated that he had saved more than US$1 billion in tax over six years, although the short-term trading at the heart of Susquehanna's business is generally taxed at around 40%.[7][8]
Wealth history
Forbes has included this entry in its annual World's Billionaires list in 6 of the editions from 2001 to 2026 checked for this profile, starting with 2021. The table gives the rank and estimated net worth in each annual list, and, where applicable, the rank and estimate in the Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans.[6][1]
| Year | World's Billionaires rank | Net worth (US$ bn) | Forbes 400 rank | Forbes 400 net worth (US$ bn) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 184 | 12.0 | 58 | 12.0 |
| 2022 | 156 | 12.0 | 23 | 30.0 |
| 2023 | 48 | 28.5 | 28 | 28.9 |
| 2024 | 64 | 27.6 | 18 | 49.6 |
| 2025 | 25 | 59.0 | 19 | 65.7 |
| 2026 | 28 | 67.4 | 18 | 77.8 |
Philanthropy
CNBC reported in April 2024 that the Susquehanna Foundation is run by Yass and other long-serving Susquehanna executives from the firm's offices. It said that Yass and fellow co-founder Arthur Dantchik are both listed as directors of a second foundation, the Claws Foundation, whose sole listed donor is Dantchik.[9] According to CNBC, the two foundations together had given more than US$25 million to libertarian-leaning non-profits since 2016, including about US$6.8 million to the Cato Institute, as well as grants to the Institute for Justice and the Atlas Network.[9] The table shows the Claws Foundation's filings; its money comes from Dantchik, but Yass is a director.[10][9]
| Foundation | Form | Tax year | Total assets, end of year | Grants and contributions paid | Contributions received |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claws Foundation | 990-PF | 2023 | 24.6 | 30.1 | 27.9 |
| Claws Foundation | 990-PF | 2022 | 9.9 | 37.6 | 0.1 |
| Claws Foundation | 990-PF | 2021 | 37.1 | 45.4 | 0.0 |
| Claws Foundation | 990-PF | 2020 | 80.9 | 36.3 | 111.0 |
Political activity
Itemised federal records under his name with Susquehanna (SIG) as employer are summarised below. They show very large contributions to Club for Growth Action, the School Freedom Fund, Protect Freedom PAC, MAGA Inc. and other Republican-aligned committees.[3] CNBC reported that he gave more than US$15 million to the Club for Growth's super PAC and met Donald Trump in March 2024 on the sidelines of a Club for Growth donor retreat.[9]
In Pennsylvania, Spotlight PA found that the political action committees that gave most in the 2024 state elections could be traced back to Yass, whom it described as a major backer of alternatives to public schools. Nearly all of the US$34 million raised over two years by the Students First PAC came from him, and the money passed on through other committees to almost every Republican candidate in its analysis.[4]
Across the 93 non-memo records retrieved for the 2022–2026 cycles, the filtered total is US$240,216,281 (a lower bound). The largest recipient committees, as named in the filings, were CLUB FOR GROWTH ACTION (US$71,500,000), SCHOOL FREEDOM FUND (US$43,500,000), PROTECT FREEDOM POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (US$33,000,000), V-PAC: VICTORS, NOT VICTIMS (US$20,000,000), MAGA INC. (US$16,000,000).[3]
| Cycle | Total (US$, lower bound) | Records | Largest recipient committees (as filed with the FEC) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | $56,191,400 | 22 | CLUB FOR GROWTH ACTION ($20,000,000); SCHOOL FREEDOM FUND ($15,000,000); KENTUCKY FREEDOM PAC ($5,000,000); CRYPTO FREEDOM PAC ($4,941,400) |
| 2024 | $90,868,981 | 44 | CLUB FOR GROWTH ACTION ($35,000,000); PROTECT FREEDOM POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE ($19,000,000); SCHOOL FREEDOM FUND ($11,000,000); AFC VICTORY FUND ($8,700,000) |
| 2026 | $93,155,900 | 27 | V-PAC: VICTORS, NOT VICTIMS ($20,000,000); SCHOOL FREEDOM FUND ($17,500,000); CLUB FOR GROWTH ACTION ($16,500,000); MAGA INC. ($16,000,000) |
Controversies and legal issues
ProPublica's 2022 reporting on Yass's tax rate is summarised under Wealth.[7] In 2024 CNBC reported criticism that he had funded lobbying and used his relationship with Trump to oppose legislation forcing the sale of TikTok; Yass declined to comment.[2]
International and political links
This section uses the same ten headings for every profile in this series. Only specific, sourced actions are included; company-level and foundation-level actions are labelled as such. Where nothing was found, the entry reads "No documented involvement found in sources checked."
Israel (investments, operations, donations, contracts, statements)
In 2023 The Jerusalem Post reported that Calcalist, citing anonymous sources, had found that Yass had not donated to the Kohelet Policy Forum, the Jerusalem think tank behind the Israeli government's judicial overhaul plans. This contradicted earlier reporting by Haaretz. Yass's partner Arthur Dantchik, whom the paper described as Kohelet's likely largest funder, said he had stopped funding think tanks in Israel.[11]
Zionist or pro-Israel organisations and lobbying groups
An April 2024 investigation by The Guardian and Responsible Statecraft linked Yass to more than US$16 million in funding for groups it described as pro-Israel or anti-Muslim. The grants were made mostly by the Claws Foundation, of which Yass was one of three directors. They included US$7.9 million to Jerusalem Online University between 2014 and 2019, US$10,000 to Friends of the Israel Defense Forces in 2011, US$35,000 to the Center for Security Policy in 2010–11, US$250,000 to the David Horowitz Freedom Center in 2013–14 and US$100,000 to the Central Fund of Israel in 2014.[12] These figures are the newspaper's; the grants were made by a foundation whose sole listed donor is Dantchik.[9]
Jewish communal charities
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Gulf states
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
China
Susquehanna's stake in ByteDance is described under Business career. In 2024 CNBC reported criticism that he had used lobbying and political ties to resist a forced sale or ban of TikTok in the United States.[2]
Russia
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
India
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Palestinian or Arab causes
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Home government
His federal and Pennsylvania political spending is described under Political activity.[3][4]
Other international links
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
See also
External links
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Forbes, Forbes profile record for Jeff Yass (Forbes data feed behind forbes.com/profile/jeff-yass/) Forbes, live record, read 20 October 2026, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 CNBC, Who is Jeff Yass? The billionaire donor with investments in TikTok’s parent company CNBC, 12 March 2024, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 U.S. Federal Election Commission, OpenFEC Schedule A (itemised individual contributions) query, contributor name "YASS, JEFF"; 2026 cycle shown in link, the 2022, 2024 and 2026 cycles were queried together with the same parameters; top 100 records by amount; compiler filtered records by employer/occupation and name and excluded memo entries U.S. Federal Election Commission, data as filed; queried 20 October 2026, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Kate Huangpu, A small group of donors dominated these high-profile Pa. races during the 2024 election Spotlight PA, 31 December 2024, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Forbes, Forbes Real-Time Billionaires data feed Forbes, live; downloaded 20 October 2026 11:51 UTC, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Forbes, Forbes World's Billionaires list data feed, annual editions 2001–2026 (one file per year at this path with the year substituted; all 26 files downloaded and read) Forbes, annual lists; downloaded 20 October 2026, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Justin Elliott, Jeff Ernsthausen and Paul Kiel, How Susquehanna’s Jeff Yass Avoided $1 Billion in Taxes ProPublica, 23 June 2022, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Justin Elliott, Jesse Eisinger, Paul Kiel, Jeff Ernsthausen et al., Meet the Billionaire and Rising GOP Mega-Donor Who’s Gaming the Tax System ProPublica, 21 June 2022, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 CNBC, Republican megadonor Jeff Yass, inner circle give millions to shape schools, courts CNBC, 9 April 2024, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, Claws Foundation (EIN 20-1658710) – Nonprofit Explorer record with IRS filing data ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, IRS filings as processed by ProPublica, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ The Jerusalem Post, Wall Street billionaire ends funding for think tank behind Netanyahu’s judicial reform plan The Jerusalem Post, 18 July 2023, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Eli Clifton, Billionaire Jeff Yass linked to $16m in donations to anti-Muslim and pro-Israel groups The Guardian, 24 April 2024, accessed 20 October 2026.