BATS Global Markets

Cboe Global Markets acquired BATS Global Markets in 2017 for roughly $3.2 billion. BATS Global Markets no longer exists as an independent entity; its US equities and ETF exchange licenses, technology stack, and staff were absorbed into Cboe. The combined company retains Cboe’s Chicago headquarters and operates BATS-named venues as part of its equity-market infrastructure.

Cboe’s highest-volume institutional products are VIX futures and options and SPX index options, both of which Cboe owns the exclusive index intellectual property for. The firm also lists Mini VIX futures, XSP mini-SPX options, and NANOS options — smaller-notional contracts designed to lower the entry cost for portfolio hedging. Outside derivatives, Cboe’s four US equity exchanges, its European equities and derivatives venues, and its foreign-exchange platform provide the core multi-asset connectivity institutional trading desks use for execution.

Craig Donohue serves as CEO and is the ultimate decision-maker. Global derivatives strategy runs through Rob Hocking, EVP and global head of derivatives, while technology architecture sits with CTO Tim Lipscomb. Enterprise strategy and M&A — including the integration of BATS assets and subsequent geographic expansions — report through Prashant Bhatia, EVP of enterprise strategy and corporate development.

Cboe generates revenue through transaction fees on its options, futures, equities, and FX exchanges, plus market-data subscription and licensing fees for real-time and historical tape data. Because Cboe owns the VIX and SPX index intellectual property, it also collects licensing revenue anytime a sell-side bank or asset manager issues a VIX- or SPX-linked structured product. The company is publicly traded, so quarterly product-level revenue breakdowns are available in its SEC filings.

Cboe does not allocate capital on behalf of clients — it is an exchange operator, not an asset manager. Its 'deal flow' is the trading volume that market-makers, banks, and institutional brokers send to its venues. Flow volume is influenced by Cboe’s proprietary index products and its co-location and market-data offerings, which attract high-frequency trading firms and options liquidity providers.

Cboe does not co-invest alongside external general partners. As a publicly traded exchange operator, its capital allocation is limited to organic technology investments, geographic expansion, and periodic M&A — such as the 2017 BATS acquisition and the 2020 build-out of Cboe Europe Derivatives in Amsterdam. The firm’s regulatory status as a licensed exchange limits its ability to take principal trading risk.

The VIX Index is a Cboe-owned volatility benchmark calculated from S&P 500 option prices. Cboe lists VIX futures and options on its own CFE futures exchange and Cboe Options exchange, respectively, and sells market data generated by those products. The same index IP generates licensing revenue when any third party issues a VIX-linked structured note — creating a self-reinforcing cycle where proprietary intellectual property feeds multiple revenue lines across listings, trading, and data.