John H. Lin

CEO

An engineering graduate from Cornell University at age 20, John was determined to pursue his passion in trading, and moved to Chicago to work from the bottom as a clerk in the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Within a year he was sponsored for a coveted seat and began trading independently in the currency pits and thus began his international career in London, Tokyo, and now Singapore. In 2006 he founded Grasshopper, and built it into a successful, private, high-frequency trading firm with a significant presence in many global exchanges.

John’s passion for teamwork, culture, and innovation makes him an inspiring mentor and visionary thinker. With equal zeal, John kite surfs, golfs, and plays baseball.  While thankful for all the experience and acumen his careers have provided in the past, John is determined to influence a better future as he is unsatisfied with the current paradigm.

Tan T. Kiang

CIO

TK has over 20 years of experience in the trading technology industry from literally programming the first market-making programs, to overseeing the building of large-scale software and high-frequency trading ecosystems for major investment banks.

Spending significant time in the USA, Japan and Singapore, TK is a multi-lingual and multi-cultural architect that easily switches gears between technologists, traders, entrepreneurs and corporate suits.  He regularly engages with major exchanges, corporate leaders, regional regulators, and is often an expert panelists at global conferences on trading, technology and HFT.

TK comes from a family of world class athletes and is a single-digit golfer and avid practitioner of meditation, where crystal branches of possibilities drive him on to make the next great thing a reality- and his track record is impeccable!

James Leong

CFO

After graduating from the National University of Singapore with Honors, James spent several years as an Organisational Psychologist for the Singapore Ministry of Defense.  In 2006 John Lin convinced him that trading was at its essence really about human nature, and James joined as Grasshopper’s first trader and employee.

In no small part due to James’ efforts as COO and now CFO, decade later would see this firm at 60 employees with a rugged reputation as a regional powerhouse.

A dedicated family man, James spends his time mentoring others, scouting the best laksa in Penang, and practicing his 7/10 split at the lanes.

Jonathan Heng

Head of Partnerships

After graduating from Singapore Management University with a Business degree majoring in Finance, Jonathan joined Grasshopper, and plunged head on into the world of electronic trading right as the financial crisis began to unravel.

That environment quickly nurtured him to thrive as a trader and helped him to gain profound respect for the market and its complexities. In the past decade, Jonathan acquired extensive experience both in OTC and high frequency trading strategies.

He likes unwinding playing football with friends and having the occasional whisky. 

Brook Du

Quantitative Analyst/Python Developer