Vlad Tenev is an American entrepreneur of Bulgarian origin, best known as the co-founder, Chairman, and CEO of Robinhood, a financial technology company. Born on February 13, 1987, he immigrated to the U.S. at a young age and later studied mathematics at Stanford University, where he met his Robinhood co-founder, Baiju Bhatt. Before Robinhood, Tenev co-founded two finance companies focused on developing trading infrastructure for financial institutions. He also holds a Master of Science degree in Mathematics from UCLA.
Tenev's vision to democratize finance led to the creation of Robinhood, which gained popularity for its commission-free trading and user-friendly mobile platform. He served as Co-CEO and Co-President of Robinhood from 2013 until late 2020, when he became the sole CEO and President. Beyond Robinhood, Tenev co-founded Harmonic, an artificial intelligence startup, in 2023, where he serves as executive chairman. His contributions to the fintech industry have earned him recognition on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list and induction into the Forbes 30 Under 30 Hall of Fame. In October 2024, Robinhood announced plans to expand its operations into the U.K.