Finance/Insurance: JAFFRAY WOODRIFF

In the section of LinkedIn where most people post a summary of their careers, Woodriff wrote, “I am at war with unnecessary complexity.”

That’s probably as good a way as any to explain Woodriff’s work — considering the bulk of the population has never heard of quants, individuals who design and use complex models to price and trade securities. Then again, Woodriff could have simply quoted the 2016 Bloomberg article in which a writer described him as “[one of] the most successful hedge fund managers in the world.”

Nearly two decades ago, Woodriff co-founded Quantitative Investment Management, the global trading firm that he also runs. Woodriff also invests in early-stage startups through his family office fund, The Felton Group LLC. Additionally, Woodriff owns the Center of Developing Entrepreneurs (CODE) building, which is slated to open this fall on the Charlottesville Downtown Mall. QIM will be among the building’s tenants.

In 2019, the Quantitative Foundation, which is run by Woodriff and his wife, Merrill, who are both University of Virginia alumni, gave a record-breaking gift of $120 million to U.Va. to establish its School of Data Science.