GBR

2009, Volume 12, Issue 2

Leveraging Opportunities in the Current Economic Climate

Audio Interview with ICE Chairman and Founder Jeff Sprecher

 

Danielle L. Scott

Jeff Sprecher has been serving as the Chairman of the Board for IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) since November 2002 and under his guidance, the company has expanded from energy commodities into agricultural and soft commodities, chemicals, credit default swaps, currencies, equity indexes and emissions across regulated futures and OTC markets globally in just eight years.

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Jeff Sprecher, Founder of ICEJeff Sprecher, MBA

In 2006, The Wall Street Journal named ICE the best one-year performer of all public company stocks based on its annual return of 196.8 percent. In 2008, Business Week named ICE to its "50 Best Performers" list.

A native of Wisconsin, Jeff earned a Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and an MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management of Pepperdine University. Learn more about ICE at theice.com.

 

audio Audio Files

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Hiring Quality People audio listen   save audio file download
What Drives ICE's Success? audio listen   save audio file download
The Future for ICE (2009 Predictions) audio listen   save audio file download

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Questions for Jeff Sprecher:

  1. Tell us more about ICE and its business model.
  2. Can you take us through your career path—from chemical engineering major to chairman of the board of a global exchange company?
  3. After just five years of operations, in 2005, you took ICE public—tell us what the process was leading up to that point?
  4. What should management teams be thinking about to help make the transition from private to public go smoothly?
  5. What is ICE's growth and acquisition strategy?
  6. Through all of these rapid-fire developments, what pitfalls did you encounter along the way? What lessons did you learn?
  7. What is your management philosophy and what criteria did you use in building your management team?
  8. In your opinion, what have been the top three drivers of ICE's unprecedented growth and success?
  9. How is ICE faring in this new economic reality—globalization, recession, etc.? How has it changed the company's short- and long-term strategies?
  10. What are your predictions for the global economy in 2009? Are they optimistic? Pessimistic?
  11. What is ICE Millions and what do you hope to achieve with it?
  12. What are the factors affecting deflation in energy commodities and what is the impact on ICE?
  13. What advice do you have for current and recently graduated MBA students? What sectors might look good for MBA grads for 2009?

*Editor's Note: This interview was held on January 28, 2009.


Danielle L. Scott is Associate Editor of the Graziadio Business Report. She works with GBR authors to help them develop their ideas and answer the tough questions. She has also worked on a number of upcoming business titles. Previously, she served as Assistant Director of Public Relations and Communications at the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine. Danielle graduated from the University of Miami, with a B.S. in Communication, majoring in Journalism and English Literature. She is currently pursuing her MBA at the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Originally from Trinidad, she lived in Miami for seven years before moving to Los Angeles in 2007.



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The opinions expressed are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Graziadio School of Business and Management nor Pepperdine University.