Jimmy Treybig, Venture partner, Austin Ventures
In the spring, the American bosses of Knight/Trimarc - the largest market-maker in US equities listed on Nasdaq - were wondering whether to open a London office, expecting a surge of interest in US equities by UK investors. They went to Gordon Connell, then European head of sales and trading at Prudential Bache Securities, to ask his advice. Before long, they had come to the view that Connell himself might be the ideal person to open the office for them. "I'd suggest various people who might run the office," recalls the cheerful, stocky, 54 year old Scot. "I was more than happy with my lot. I had no thought at my age of doing this job ... but then they described what they wanted me to do."
Knight's president, Kenneth Pasternak, told Connell that his company aimed to be the largest global market-maker, initially by covering UK institutions in the US, then adding the same services in the European market, then by making markets in American depositary receipts and local issues in the UK, and finally doing the same for Europe. "It was mind-boggling," says Connell.