Jeff Sprecher is founder, chairman and CEO of Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) and chairman of the New York Stock Exchange. Sprecher acquired the predecessor company to ICE for $1, building a company with a market capitalisation over $25 billion in 15 years. Under Sprecher’s leadership, ICE grew from operating an energy swaps market into a network of 11 global exchanges, including NYSE, through organic growth and acquisitions. As a power plant developer, Sprecher recognized the need among energy market participants for an accessible, standardized electronic marketplace for OTC energy contracts. He acquired Continental Power Exchange (CPEX) in 1997 to achieve his vision of an efficient market that would bring transparency and capital efficiency to previously opaque and fragmented markets. Intercontinental Exchange was formed in 2000 and the company completed its initial public offering in 2005 on the NYSE. He has served as the company's CEO since May 2000 and as the chairman of the board since November 2002. Sprecher has led numerous strategic initiatives that have enabled ICE to expand from a single asset class — energy — into a broad range of asset classes today. These have included numerous acquisitions, including the International Petroleum Exchange of London (2001), the New York Board of Trade (2007), Creditex (2008), The Clearing Corporation (2009), the Climate Exchange (2010), NYSE Euronext (November 2013), and Singapore Mercantile Exchange (2014). Prior to acquiring CPEX, Sprecher served as president of Western Power Group.