Jane Street snatches Wall Street crown with record US$39.6 billion trading haul

Jane Street, which handles investors’ trades and also wagers with its own money, has pounced on bursts of market activity since Trump’s return to the White House. Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images

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Jane Street Group reeled in a Wall Street record US$39.6 billion of trading revenue last year, capping a stunning ascent to the peak of the industry.

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The firm flew past global investment banks after reaping US$15.5 billion in the year’s final quarter, according to people with knowledge of the results, who asked not to be named discussing confidential figures. With only 3,500 employees, it beat nearest rival JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 11 per cent during the year.

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Jane Street’s profits are being lifted by surging valuations of its stakes in privately held companies, while the firm’s main business matching buyers and sellers across assets thrives on bouts of market volatility. The new annual record — even though it includes gains on long-term investments — shows how the balance of power has shifted in one of the most lucrative arenas of global finance.

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Much of Jane Street’s growth relies on technology and an appetite for risk, sometimes finding alternatives to traditional industry practices. That approach helped the firm generate more than US$11 million of revenue on average per employee.

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For banks, it’s a manifestation of the fears they harboured about someday losing ground to upstarts when United States regulators imposed costly rules and sought to curb betting by deposit-taking institutions after the 2008 financial crisis. Nonbanks don’t face the same strictures on capital as those too-big-to-fail lenders.

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Jane Street, which handles investors’ trades and also wagers with its own money, has pounced on bursts of market activity since President Donald Trump’s return to the White House. Prices have whipsawed on his policy proposals, tariffs, military threats and attacks on foreign adversaries, forcing investors to quickly reposition portfolios — a boon for market markers.

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Jane Street’s adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization in 2025 were about US$31.2 billion, the people said.

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A representative for Jane Street declined to comment.

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Starting in 2000, Jane Street cut its teeth trading American depository receipts, and later specialized in exchange-traded funds. It has since expanded across asset classes around the world, often profiting from mismatches in prices. It has developed technology for handling thousands of trades within seconds like other high-frequency firms, but it also reaps gains by holding some positions for hours, days and even weeks.

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Market-making rivals Citadel Securities and Hudson River Trading notched records of their own last year, pulling in US$12.2 billion and US$12.3 billion respectively, Bloomberg has previously reported. They and Jane Street have filled voids left by banks more focused on higher-returning businesses. JPMorgan posted $35.8 billion of trading revenue in 2025 and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. US$31.1 billion.

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The fourth quarter also showed that Jane Street, long known for its secrecy, was able to keep growing after getting thrust into the spotlight in mid-2025 when authorities in India accused of manipulating markets while running what had once been one of the firm’s most lucrative trading strategies. Jane Street has denied those allegations and is fighting them in court.