Viola is the founder and chairman of Virtu Financial, a high-frequency trading firm that reported revenue of $2.3 billion in 2024. The New York-based company trades in more than 25,000 securities across roughly 235 marketplaces worldwide. Viola also owns a stake in professional ice hockey team the Florida Panthers.
The majority of Viola's fortune is derived from Virtu, a publicly traded high-frequency trading firm. He controls a 43% stake mostly through TJMT Holdings, a family trust owned by his wife and son, according to the company's 2025 proxy statement. The entire stake is attributed to him to reflect his status as Virtu's founder.
Virtu operates in more than 235 marketplaces and makes bids and offers in more than 25,000 securities, according to the company's website.
The company's 2015 prospectus disclosed dividends paid since 2006 by Virtu and Madison Tyler, a company founded by Viola with trader David Salomon in 2002. He's credited with 58 percent of the distributions -- about $1 billion -- reflecting his stake in Virtu at the time. He isn't credited with any cash proceeds from the sale of Madison Tyler to Virtu in 2011. The value of his cash investments is based on these proceeds, as well as dividends, asset purchases and sales, charitable giving and taxes.
Viola's also the majority owner of the Florida Panthers professional hockey franchise, but his exact stake couldn't be confirmed. The analysis assumes that as majority owner he owns 51%. The team is valued based on a report by sports valuation consultants Sportico released in October 2025.
Viola is an owner of St. Elias Stable, a horse-racing stable which was a co-owner of 2017 Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming. The asset isn't included in the valuation due to a lack of available information on its financials.
Daniel DePalma, a spokesman for Virtu, said that Viola did not have any comment on the net worth calculation.
The son of a truck driver, Vincent Viola grew up in Brooklyn, New York. He attended the military academy at West Point where he served as an infantry officer in the 101st Airborne Division before becoming a major and graduating in 1977. He also is a graduate of New York Law School.
Viola started his career in the financial industry as a floor trader in the New York Mercantile Exchange, becoming its vice chairman in 1993 and chairman eight years later. He created his own firm, Virtu Financial, which has been the world's leader in electronic market making since its creation in 2002.
It postponed a planned 2014 initial public offering after market turbulences and the publication of Michael Lewis's "Flash Boys." The book argued that markets are at the advantage of high-frequency traders such as Viola, because they have a faster access to data and information.
After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Viola helped fund the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. He became the majority owner of the Florida Panthers hockey team in September 2013. He has three sons with his wife, Teresa.
Virtu began trading on the NASDAQ in New York on April 15, 2015.