Jane Street snatches Wall Street crown with record US$39.6 billion trading haul
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Starting in 2000, Jane Street cut its teeth trading American depository receipts, and later specialized in ETFsAuthor of the article:You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.Jane Street Group reeled in a Wall Street record US$39.6 billion of trading revenue last year, capping a stunning ascent to the peak of the industry.Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.The firm flew past global investment banks after reaping US$15.5 billion in the year’s final quarter, according to people with knowledge of the results, who asked not to be named discussing confidential figures. With only 3,500 employees, it beat nearest rival JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 11 per cent during the year.Jane Street’s profits are being lifted by surging valuations of its stakes in privately held companies, while the firm’s main business matching buyers and sellers across assets thrives on bouts of market volatility. The new annual record — even though it includes gains on long-term investments — shows how the balance of power has shifted in one of the most lucrative arenas of global finance.Canada's best source for investing news, analysis and insight.By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.The next issue of Investor will soon be in your inbox.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againInterested in more newsletters? Browse here.Much of Jane Street’s growth relies on technology and an appetite for risk, sometimes finding alternatives to traditional industry practices. That approach helped the firm generate more than US$11 million of revenue on average per employee.For banks, it’s a manifestation of the fears they harboured about someday losing ground to upstarts when United States regulators imposed costly rules and sought to curb betting by deposit-taking institutions after the 2008 financial crisis. Nonbanks don’t face the same strictures on capital as those too-big-to-fail lenders.Jane Street, which handles investors’ trades and also wagers with its own money, has pounced on bursts of market activity since President Donald Trump’s return to the White House. Prices have whipsawed on his policy proposals, tariffs, military threats and attacks on foreign adversaries, forcing investors to quickly reposition portfolios — a boon for market markers.Jane Street’s adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization in 2025 were about US$31.2 billion, the people said.A representative for Jane Street declined to comment.Starting in 2000, Jane Street cut its teeth trading American depository receipts, and later specialized in exchange-traded funds. It has since expanded across asset classes around the world, often profiting from mismatches in prices. It has developed technology for handling thousands of trades within seconds like other high-frequency firms, but it also reaps gains by holding some positions for hours, days and even weeks.Market-making rivals Citadel Securities and Hudson River Trading notched records of their own last year, pulling in US$12.2 billion and US$12.3 billion respectively, Bloomberg has previously reported. They and Jane Street have filled voids left by banks more focused on higher-returning businesses. JPMorgan posted $35.8 billion of trading revenue in 2025 and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. US$31.1 billion.The fourth quarter also showed that Jane Street, long known for its secrecy, was able to keep growing after getting thrust into the spotlight in mid-2025 when authorities in India accused of manipulating markets while running what had once been one of the firm’s most lucrative trading strategies. Jane Street has denied those allegations and is fighting them in court.This week, it also urged a judge to throw out a separate lawsuit accusing it of trading on inside information ahead of the US$40 billion crash of cryptocurrencies associated with Terraform Labs.Jane Street’s stake in rising artificial intelligence venture Anthropic PBC was the driving force behind US$830 million of third-quarter gains from bets on private firms. That September, Anthropic boasted a valuation of US$183 billion. Since then, the maker of the popular Claude artificial-intelligence model and developer of the much-feared Mythos has raised money at a US$380 billion valuation and later received offers from investors for a round of funding that could value it at about US$800 billion or higher.Jane Street is also in funding talks for cloud-computing startup Fluidstack Ltd. and recently invested an additional US$1 billion in AI cloud services provider and CoreWeave Inc.Bloomberg.comPostmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.