Who Owns CMC Markets?

The Founder

Peter Cruddas started CMC in 1989 at age 35, with £10,000 of his own money. He’d been the head FX dealer at the London branch of Jordan-based Petra Bank before leaving to set it up himself.

The company was originally called Currency Management Consultants. It became CMC Markets in 2005.

Who Else Owns It?

CMC Markets plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (ticker: CMCX) and sits in the FTSE 250. So ownership is split three ways:

1. Peter Cruddas — roughly 59% as of 2026
2. Institutional investors — pension funds, asset managers, FTSE 250 index funds
3. Retail shareholders — anyone who bought CMC shares through a broker

It’s not a private company. Public filings, annual reports, and regulatory disclosures are all accessible.

Who Runs It Day-to-Day?

Cruddas is the current CEO, which is uncommon for a company of this size that is publicly listed.

Cruddas has stepped in and out of the CEO role several times over the years. He first held it until October 2007, returned in July 2009, stepped back in June 2010, and then returned in 2013 after firing CEO Doug Richards during a period of revenue decline. He’s been in the seat continuously since then.

How Cruddas Built CMC Markets

Cruddas grew up in Hackney. No university degree. He worked his way up through FX trading before starting CMC. He credits the Boy Scouts with building the discipline that carried him through.

A few key moments in the company’s history:

• 1991 — Early growth came when Arab banks used CMC as an intermediary for FX during the Gulf War
• 1996 — Launched what it claims was the first online FX trading platform
• 2012 — A political scandal (the “Cash-for-Access” affair) hit hard. Revenue fell 21%, pre-tax losses reached £19.4 million. Cruddas resigned from his Conservative Party role. He later won a libel case against The Sunday Times, though damages were reduced on appeal.
• 2016 — Listed on the London Stock Exchange at £691 million — below the £1 billion valuation Cruddas had expected
• 2021 — Awarded a life peerage as Baron Cruddas of Shoreditch
• 2022 —  Published an autobiography called ‘Passport to Success’, documenting the company’s growth and his founding journey
• 2024 — Major restructuring and approximately 200+ job cuts following market conditions and a drop in client activity
• 2025 —David Fineberg stepped down as Deputy CEO to become Global Head of Strategic Partnerships, while Paul Wainscott became Chairman
• 2025 — CMC increased its stake in StrikeX to a controlling 51%, expanding into tokenized assets and blockchain
• 2026 — CMC reported record FY2026 revenue and profit

Is Having One Person Approx 60% of CMC Markets a Problem?

This is a significant concentration of ownership. Cruddas’s personal decisions have influenced the business in the past, such as during the 2012 scandal, which caused financial damage. However, founder-led businesses with the owner’s own money at stake often make decisions more carefully than those run by changing management teams.

Because Cruddas controls over 50% of voting rights, CMC Markets can also invest heavily in long-term technology operations (like B2B infrastructure and retail non-leveraged platforms) without having to bow to short-term pressure from institutional investors, which can be common.

Also, any planned takeover of CMC would almost certainly require Lord Cruddas’ support because of his majority ownership.

For clients, the key point is that with a majority stake, Cruddas cannot be easily removed by institutional shareholders. Strategic changes tend to unfold slowly, which can lead to stability or rigidity depending on future developments.

However, we have seen similarly concentrated ownership structures at other prominent, listed brokerages. For example, Interactive Brokers’ owner is also still heavily involved.