Vladimir Tenev
Summary
Vladimir Tenev co-founded Robinhood in 2013 and has served as its CEO since November 2020 and chairman since March 2021. ([investors.robinhood.com](https://investors.robinhood.com/management/vlad-tenev?utm_source=openai))
Biography
Vladimir Tenev is a Bulgarian-born American entrepreneur who co-founded Robinhood with Baiju Bhatt in 2013 after the pair had previously started finance-related technology companies in New York. He holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Stanford University and a master's degree in mathematics from UCLA. ([congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/117/meeting/house/111207/witnesses/HHRG-117-BA00-Wstate-TenevV-20210218.pdf)) Tenev was Robinhood's co-CEO and co-president with Bhatt from 2013 until November 2020, when he became the company's sole CEO and president. He became chairman of the board in March 2021. Under his leadership, Robinhood expanded beyond commission-free stock trading into options, crypto, retirement accounts, advisory services, cash products, credit cards, prediction markets, and access to private markets. ([investors.robinhood.com](https://investors.robinhood.com/static-files/dd1f4238-e0a9-446f-8745-f63e105f5063?utm_source=openai)) Tenev has remained the public face of Robinhood through its 2021 IPO, the 2021 retail-trading surge, and the company's later push to become a broader financial-services platform. Robinhood reported record 2025 revenue, net deposits, Gold subscribers, trading volumes, and profits while continuing to pursue that broader strategy. ([investors.robinhood.com](https://investors.robinhood.com/news-releases/news-release-details/robinhood-reports-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-2025-results?utm_source=openai))
Notable achievements
- Co-founded Robinhood and helped build its mobile-first, commission-free brokerage platform.
- Led Robinhood through its initial public offering in 2021 and its transition from startup to public company.
- Expanded the product range into crypto, retirement, advisory, cash management, credit cards, prediction markets, and private-market access.
- Oversaw a period of significant product and financial growth; Robinhood reported record 2025 revenue, net deposits, Gold subscribers, trading volumes, and profits. ([investors.robinhood.com](https://investors.robinhood.com/news-releases/news-release-details/robinhood-reports-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-2025-results?utm_source=openai))
- Helped lead the company's stated strategy of becoming a broader financial-services platform rather than relying only on equity trading. ([investors.robinhood.com](https://investors.robinhood.com/static-files/7bdf75f3-f83e-4b77-ace7-945e3578f9f4))
Problem areas / controversies
- Robinhood's January 2021 restrictions on purchases of GameStop and other stocks triggered intense customer criticism, lawsuits, regulatory scrutiny, and congressional questioning; Tenev testified before the House Financial Services Committee and said the restrictions were linked to clearinghouse deposit requirements. ([congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/117/meeting/house/111207/witnesses/HHRG-117-BA00-Wstate-TenevV-20210218.pdf))
- The company experienced major service outages, including a March 2020 outage, raising questions about platform reliability during periods of heavy market activity. ([fortune.com](https://fortune.com/2025/12/29/who-is-robinhoods-cfo-shiv-verma-transition/?utm_source=openai))
- Robinhood's business model and product design have faced criticism over payment for order flow, gamification, and the risks of encouraging inexperienced customers to trade options and other complex products.
- In January 2025, Robinhood's two broker-dealer subsidiaries agreed to pay $45 million in combined SEC penalties over multiple alleged compliance failures, including reporting, recordkeeping, suspicious-activity reporting, cybersecurity, customer-information protection, and Regulation SHO issues; the order concerned the subsidiaries rather than a personal finding against Tenev. ([sec.gov](https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2025-5))