Craig Donohue has been the Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors for the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) since 2004, and its predecessor company CME Holdings since 2003. CME is the biggest U.S. futures exchange by market capitalization and Donohue has shown great determination in making it even bigger. During his tenure he’s managed to complete more than $20 billion in mergers and acquisitions, taking over the Chicago Board of Trade, as well as the New York Mercantile Exchange, despite resistance from both the political and regulatory side. Luckily he had support from then-senator Barack Obama, and then-representative Rahm Emanuel, now the U.S. President and his chief of staff. It was just another step in Donohue’s plans to diversify CME, a plan that’s been successful so far both regionally and through the number of offerings CME has for its customers. But his detractors have been a vocal lot. Many have hurled accusations Donohue’s way of making a bid for financial global dominance by gobbling up exchanges domestically before he looks overseas. Donohue has denied this, stating publically that he’s only interested in domestic consolidation and any moves made by CME overseas are in the manner of partnerships, not outright acquisitions. But his move into establishing a credit swap platform has riled up Wall Street, and despite assumed White House support, opposition to his actions have gained steam. Donohue has made all the right moves so far, including taking the CME public in 2002, and building up some impressive domestic and international business connections. He serves as CME’s representative on the board of BM&FBovespa, is chairman of the board of the National Council on Economic Education, and a member of the board of directors of the Executives' Club of Chicago and the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, as well as serving on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's ("CFTC") Global Markets Advisory Committee. All this combined points towards a bright future for Donohue, which equals a bright and growing future for the exchange he’s been running.
Craig Donohue has been the Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors for the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) since 2004, and its predecessor company CME Holdings since 2003. CME is the biggest U.S. futures exchange by market capitalization and Donohue has shown great determination in making it even bigger. During his tenure he’s managed to complete more than $20 billion in mergers and acquisitions, taking over the Chicago Board of Trade, as well as the New York Mercantile Exchange, despite resistance from both the political and regulatory side. Luckily he had support from then-senator Barack Obama, and then-representative Rahm Emanuel, now the U.S. President and his chief of staff. It was just another step in Donohue’s plans to diversify CME, a plan that’s been successful so far both regionally and through the number of offerings CME has for its customers. But his detractors have been a vocal lot. Many have hurled accusations Donohue’s way of making a bid for financial global dominance by gobbling up exchanges domestically before he looks overseas. Donohue has denied this, stating publically that he’s only interested in domestic consolidation and any moves made by CME overseas are in the manner of partnerships, not outright acquisitions. But his move into establishing a credit swap platform has riled up Wall Street, and despite assumed White House support, opposition to his actions have gained steam. Donohue has made all the right moves so far, including taking the CME public in 2002, and building up some impressive domestic and international business connections. He serves as CME’s representative on the board of BM&FBovespa, is chairman of the board of the National Council on Economic Education, and a member of the board of directors of the Executives' Club of Chicago and the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, as well as serving on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's ("CFTC") Global Markets Advisory Committee. All this combined points towards a bright future for Donohue, which equals a bright and growing future for the exchange he’s been running.