Billionaire Alex Gerko, the founder of the algorithmic trading firm XTX Markets, along with other shareholders, shared a windfall of approximately $3 billion. This payout occurred as XTX's earnings surged due to higher revenue from proprietary trading and market-making activities in 2025. The London-based firm paid a record dividend of £2.2 billion ($3 billion) to its parent company, roughly double the previous year's amount, according to UK registry filings.
Gerko, as the majority shareholder of XTX, is in line to receive a payout exceeding £1.5 billion. The company's UK profits hit a record £1.7 billion, driven by market instability. XTX, which was founded by Gerko in 2015 and uses machine learning to forecast prices, benefited significantly from the volatility across financial markets over the past year. The firm's revenue jumped 44% to just under £4 billion, and profit rose by a third to £1.7 billion.
XTX Markets also emerged as a substantial contributor to the UK exchequer, facing a corporation tax bill of over £500 million for 2025. Specifically, the company was due to pay around £580 million in corporation tax, an increase of more than a third compared to the previous year. This amount accounts for approximately 0.7% of all onshore corporation tax collected in the UK, despite XTX having fewer than 200 full-time staff. Additionally, XTX is one of the UK's largest charitable donors, having committed over £150 million to various causes in 2025, with a focus on mathematics education and research.
