Steve Swanson co-founded Automated Trading Desk (ATD), a pioneer in high frequency trading based in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. In 2001, Swanson was named President and CEO where he was responsible for growing ATD to 7% of US daily equity trading volume. In 2007 ATD was sold to Citigroup for $680 million. At Citigroup, Swanson was made global co-head of electronic trading for equities. He is a past chairman of the NASDAQ Quality of Markets Committee, and a past member of the SIFMA Trading and Markets Committee. Since leaving Citi/ATD in 2010, he has been involved with several startups in New York and South Carolina. He current serves on the Board of Director at the Bank of South Carolina (NASDAQ: BKSC). He is also the Inside Director of operations and strategy at SnapCap.
With a BS in Mathematics and a minor in Computer Science from the College of Charleston, Steve is a passionate volunteer at his alma mater where he serves on the Foundation Board, the Business School Board of Governors and the Honors Advisory Council. Most recently, Swanson has been named co-chair of the College of Charleston Comprehensive Campaign which has raised $114 million of a $125 million goal.
Steve and his wife, Emily, have also established the Swanson Scholars program, which provides competitive scholarships to the Honors College. As of the fall of 2014, there are 28 Swanson Scholars at the College.