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David Kalt is a serial technology entrepreneur and investor based in Chicago, Illinois. He previously founded and served as the Chief Executive Officer of the online retail brokerage optionsXpress, leading the fintech platform through its initial public offering and subsequent $1 billion acquisition by Charles Schwab. Following this exit, Kalt founded Reverb.com, a two-sided online marketplace for musical instruments, which he scaled globally before selling the company to Etsy for $275 million in August 2019. Alongside his marketplace ventures, he formerly owned the Chicago Music Exchange and holds a master's degree in computer science from DePaul University, as well as a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan. After stepping down as Reverb's CEO in late 2019, Kalt shifted his primary focus toward angel investing and advising early-stage startups within the e-commerce, consumer technology, and fintech sectors.
David Kalt stands as a visionary entrepreneur and a leading figure in the financial technology (fintech) industry. Renowned for his innovative approach to empowering individual investors, Kalt has founded multiple groundbreaking companies that have reshaped the landscape of online trading and financial education. His career trajectory showcases a consistent drive to democratize access to sophisticated financial tools and insights for the self-directed trader.
Kalt is the driving force behind tastytrade, a popular financial media network, and tastyworks, a modern online brokerage firm. He served as the CEO of tastytrade, which was acquired by IG Group, a global leader in online trading. As Chairman of tastyworks, he continues to guide its mission to provide a fast, reliable, and user-friendly platform for active traders. Prior to these ventures, Kalt founded optionsXpress, a pioneering online options and futures brokerage that significantly impacted the retail trading space.
While Kalt is primarily known as a founder and builder of companies, his 'investment focus' can be seen through the lens of the businesses he creates and supports. He is deeply committed to ventures that leverage technology to enhance financial literacy, improve trading efficiency, and reduce barriers for retail investors. His work consistently targets areas where technology can disrupt traditional financial models, offering greater transparency, lower costs, and a superior user experience. He champions platforms that cater to active, self-directed traders, providing them with advanced tools and comprehensive educational resources to navigate complex markets.
Kalt's entrepreneurial journey began with optionsXpress, which he founded in 1997. Under his leadership, optionsXpress grew into a publicly traded company before being acquired by Charles Schwab in 2011, marking a significant success in the online brokerage industry. This achievement laid the groundwork for his subsequent ventures. In 2011, he co-founded tastytrade, a revolutionary financial network that delivers live, actionable content to traders worldwide, quickly becoming a go-to resource for market insights. Following tastytrade's success, he launched tastyworks in 2017, a brokerage designed to complement the educational content with a cutting-edge trading platform built for speed and efficiency. Kalt also had a brief stint as CEO of Guitar Center, demonstrating his diverse leadership capabilities across different industries. His career is a testament to his ability to identify market needs and build scalable, technology-driven solutions that resonate with his target audience.
Through his various endeavors, David Kalt has significantly impacted the retail trading community, fostering an environment where individual investors can access institutional-grade tools and knowledge. His legacy is defined by innovation, education, and a relentless pursuit of empowering the self-directed trader.
David Kalt is a renowned fintech entrepreneur, best known as the founder of tastytrade, tastyworks, and optionsXpress. He is a pioneer in online trading and financial education, dedicated to empowering individual investors.
David Kalt primarily 'invests' his entrepreneurial efforts into building and scaling companies that focus on financial technology, online trading platforms, and financial education for active traders. His ventures aim to disrupt traditional finance and empower individual investors through innovative tech solutions.
David Kalt is the Chairman of tastyworks and was the CEO of tastytrade, which was acquired by IG Group. He continues to be a prominent figure within the tastytrade ecosystem, guiding its strategic direction and vision.
