John D'Agostino (financial services)

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John D'Agostino
John Dagostino World Capital Markets 2018 Keynote.jpg
D'Agostino in 2018
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater Williams College
Oxford University
Harvard Business School
Occupation(s)Founder, Dagger Consulting LLC

John Joseph D'Agostino is an American business executive and entrepreneur. D'Agostino is a senior advisor to Coinbase [1] and Chairman of US Asset Management Committee for the Department for International Trade. [2] He previously was Managing Director at the world's largest fund governance firm DMS Offshore, [3] where he was also on the board of hedge funds providing independent oversight. [4] He was previously a managing director at Alkeon Capital Management, a multibillion-dollar registered investment adviser. [5] [6] Prior to this, D'Agostino was known primarily for his involvement in the early development of the Dubai Mercantile Exchange. [6] [7] In 2021, Mr. D'Agostino co-founded the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) Digital Asset Working Group. [8] He was named Fellow of the AIF Global Innovation Institute in 2022. [9] D'Agostino has been on the board of Surf Air, an aviation and air charter company since 2018. [10]

Contents

His story was the focus of the book Rigged, the True Story of an Ivy League Kid who Changed the World of Oil by New York Times best-selling author Ben Mezrich. [6] [11] Summit Entertainment acquired the screen rights to Rigged and the book has been optioned for film adaptation. [12]

D'Agostino appeared in "The Startup of You" by Reid Hoffman in 2012. [13] He is the founder of Dagger LLC, a strategic consulting and advisory services. He is a speaker at conferences and meetings on business topics such as negotiation, markets, and hedge funds. [14] [15]

Early life

D'Agostino grew up in a working-class family in Brooklyn, New York. [6] He earned a scholarship to attend Regis High School and subsequently Williams College for his BA degree. He studied Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Oxford University, and obtained his MBA from Harvard Business School. [6] [14]

Career

After graduating from Harvard Business School, D'Agostino joined the New York Mercantile Exchange where he helped transition the floor to electronic trading. [11] He became the exchange's youngest Head of Strategy and led the effort to create the Dubai Mercantile Exchange in partnership with the Dubai Government. [6] [7] D'Agostino's efforts led to the development of the first Middle East commodity derivatives exchange, [16] [17] which laid the foundations for accelerating the development of capital markets in the region. [6] [17]

He subsequently served as Director of Corporate Development at Second Market and Director for hedge fund and private equity consulting at KPMG Advisory before joining Alkeon Capital Management. [11]

D'Agostino has written case studies used by Harvard University and has been a guest lecturer for INSEAD University. He currently lectures at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Columbia Business School. [4] [18] In 2012, he was a speaker at the Australian Davos Forum in Hayman Island, Australia. [19] He has guest lectured for the United States Navy on the topic of "financial exchange expansion as an indicator of shifting political power" and advised the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing on its successful $1.3 billion acquisition of the London Metal Exchange. [6] D'Agostino also serves as the Chair of the New York City UK Consulate's Asset Management Commmitte. [20]

Depictions in media

John D'Agostino speaking at the World Capital Markets Symposium 2018 John DAgostino World Capital Makets Symposium 2018 Keynote.jpg
John D'Agostino speaking at the World Capital Markets Symposium 2018

Books

In 2007, his story became the focus of the book Rigged, the True Story of an Ivy League Kid who Changed the World of Oil by Ben Mezrich. The book was published in 2008 in United Kingdom with a slight variation in the title as Rigged, The True Story of a Wall Street Novice who Changed the World of Oil Forever.

According to the author's note, [21] D'Agostino was initially reluctant for the book to be written and author Ben Mezrich convinced D'Agostino by using a pseudonym, changing the name of the primary character to David Russo. [6] [11] [21] The book appeared on the New York Times Best Seller list for one week in 2007 and another in 2008. [22] [23] Summit Entertainment acquired the screen rights to Rigged. [12]

D'Agostino was mentioned in a book by Wall Street journalist Leah McGrath Goodman, titled The Asylum: Inside the Rise and Ruin of the Global Oil Market published in 2011. [24] The book, written as an exposé, traces the New York Mercantile Exchange's transformation from an obscure market specializing in commodity futures in the 1960s to its modern-day venue as the world's energy exchange. [25]

In 2012, D'Agostino was featured in the book The Start-up of you by LinkedIn founder and Chairman Reid Hoffman. [26] The book highlights lessons from Silicon Valley's most innovative entrepreneurs. [27]

Media appearances

At the 2018 World Capital Markets Symposium, when asked to comment on the sustainability, diversity and equality in the finance industry, D'Agostino remarked "It doesn't matter if we are ready or not, the future is decidedly female" which received considerable media interest. [28]

In June 2018, John D'Agostino and Nouriel Roubini led a discussion on cryptocurrencies at the Battle of the Quants in New York. [29] In contrast to Roubini, D'Agostino remained neutral on cryptocurrencies and the blockchain ecosystem and its viability in the short-term, and cautiously optimistic in the long-term. [30] D'Agostino estimated that 80 percent of ICOs were likely to fail, a figure quoted by Bloomberg. [29]

In May 2019, D'Agostino was invited by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to speak at their first FinTech forum on Digital Assets. [31]

D'Agostino was a featured speaker at the Saudi LEAP Conference. [32]

Personal life

D'Agostino is married, has two daughters and resides in New York City. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Commodity market</span> Physical or virtual transactions of buying and selling involving raw or primary commodities

A commodity market is a market that trades in the primary economic sector rather than manufactured products, such as cocoa, fruit and sugar. Hard commodities are mined, such as gold and oil. Futures contracts are the oldest way of investing in commodities. Commodity markets can include physical trading and derivatives trading using spot prices, forwards, futures, and options on futures. Farmers have used a simple form of derivative trading in the commodities market for centuries for price risk management.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York Mercantile Exchange</span> American futures exchange

The New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) is a commodity futures exchange owned and operated by CME Group of Chicago. NYMEX is located at One North End Avenue in Brookfield Place in the Battery Park City section of Manhattan, New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baker Hughes</span> Energy technology company

Baker Hughes Company is a global energy technology company co-headquartered in Houston, Texas and London, UK. As one of the world's largest oil field services, industrial and energy technology companies, it provides products and services to the oil and gas industry for exploration and production, as well as other energy and industrial applications. It operates in over 120 countries, with facilities in Australia, Brazil, Singapore, Malaysia, India, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Germany, Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nouriel Roubini</span> Iranian-American economist

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Mezrich</span> American author (born 1969)

Ben Mezrich is an American author.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transocean</span> Offshore drilling contractor

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The Cincinnati Time Store (1827–1830) was the first in a series of retail stores created by American individualist anarchist Josiah Warren to test his economic labor theory of value. The experimental store operated from May 18, 1827, until May 1830. He sold things at-cost plus a small markup for his time. It is usually considered to be the first time alternative currency labor notes were used, and as such the first experiment in what would later be called mutualism. He also founded stores in New Harmony, Indiana, and at Modern Times, Long Island. The store in Cincinnati closed in 1830 with Warren being satisfied he demonstrated running and managing a business without the "erection of any power over the individual". His theory — replacing money with time — was turned into an actual practical demonstration project. It was the first such activity, preceding similar labor notes in Europe by more than 20 years, and still has implications for other concepts of currency such as cryptocurrencies. Nonetheless, at the time it was the most popular mercantile institution in Cincinnati.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Valaris Limited</span> Offshore drilling contractor

Valaris Limited is an offshore drilling contractor headquartered in Houston, Texas, and incorporated in Bermuda. It is the largest offshore drilling and well drilling company in the world, and owns 52 rigs, including 36 offshore jackup rigs, 11 drillships, and 5 semi-submersible platform drilling rigs.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seadrill</span>

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The Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME) is a commodity exchange based in Dubai currently listing its flagship futures contract, DME Oman Crude Oil Futures Contract (OQD). Launched in 2007, the DME aims to become the crude oil pricing benchmark for the Asian market with its Oman Crude Oil contract, like the Intercontinental Exchange’s (ICE) North Sea Brent is to Europe and the New York Mercantile Exchange’s (NYMEX) West Texas Intermediate is to North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deepwater drilling</span> Using a drilling rig to bore holes for petroleum extraction in deep sea

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hong Kong Mercantile Exchange</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lamprell</span> Oil rig construction company

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cryptocurrency</span> Digital currency not reliant on a central authority

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlie Shrem</span> American entrepreneur

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<i>Rigged</i> (2007 book) 2007 book by Ben Mezrich

Rigged: The True Story of a Wall Street Novice who Changed the World of Oil Forever is a book by author Ben Mezrich. The book recounts the story of John D'Agostino, whom the book renames David Russo. The hardback of the book was number 10 on the New York Times Best Seller list in 2007, and was number 29 in paperback nonfiction on December 14, 2008.

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References

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