Brett Harrison

Harrison was born in New York City and raised in Dix Hills, New York.[4] He graduated from Half Hollow Hills High School West in 2006. While in high school, his mathematical research was published in American Mathematical Monthly.[5]

He attended Harvard University, where he earned an M.S. and B.A. in computer science.[6] He completed Math 55 during his time at Harvard.[7]

Harrison joined Jane Street Capital as an ADR trader in 2010.[8][9] He later went on to lead Jane Street’s algorithmic trading system development groups. While at Jane Street, he met and worked with Sam Bankman-Fried.[10]

He was subsequently a technology executive at Citadel Securities. At Citadel he managed the company’s Options, ETF, ADR and OTC technology departments.[11]

In May 2021, Harrison became President of FTX US.[12] While at FTX US he established the company’s regulated business operations and opened its headquarters in Chicago.[6] In 2022 he built and managed the launch of the company’s US retail stock brokerage and trading platform.[13][14]

In August 2022, FTX US and four other companies received a cease and desist letter from the FDIC instructing the companies to correct potentially false or misleading statements about products’ eligibility for insurance protection.[15] A tweet by Harrison was included in the letter. Harrison deleted the tweet and stated he did not intend to mislead anyone.[16]

On September 27th, 2022, Harrison announced his resignation from FTX US.[17] His resignation was reported as abrupt.[18] He later stated that he resigned after repeated disputes over management practices with Sam Bankman-Fried.[19] An investigation undertaken by FTX’s post-bankruptcy management confirmed he resigned as a result of a “protracted disagreement” with Bankman-Fried over “lack of appropriate delegation of authority, formal management structure, and key hires at FTX US.”[20]

In December 2022, Bloomberg reported that Harrison was raising capital for a new trading technology venture.[21] In January 2023, he closed a $5 million seed round and founded Architect, a company to develop institutional-grade trading infrastructure for cryptocurrency markets.[2] Architect’s investors include Coinbase, Circle, and Anthony Scaramucci.[16]

Harrison is Jewish.[22] He is vegan and owns numerous rescue dogs and cats.[23][24]

He is married to Hannah Harrison. In January 2019, they adopted a child with congenital amputations from China.[25]