Pete Ricketts is the founder of Drakon, LLC, an asset management company in Omaha, Nebraska. He is also a member of the TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation Board of Directors, a director for the Chicago Cubs baseball team, and an Advisory Board member for the Alumni Capital Network.
Pete is the former Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer of Ameritrade Holding Corporation, now TD Ameritrade. Pete left Ameritrade in August 2005, to run for the U.S. Senate. After winning the primary race, he became the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate race in Nebraska for the 2006 election.
While at Ameritrade for nearly twelve years, Pete held various leadership roles within the company. As Chief Operating Officer for the company, he oversaw Ameritrade's retail client business as well as clearing and marketing operations. Prior to being named COO, Pete served as President of Ameritrade, Inc., Senior Vice President of Strategy and Business Development,
Senior Vice President of Product Development, and as Senior Vice President of Marketing, Pete led the successful $200 million marketing campaign, "Believe in Yourself." Prior to joining Ameritrade, Pete worked in environmental and economic consulting as well as working for Union Pacific Railroad. Pete holds an M.B.A. in marketing and finance from the University of Chicago, where he also earned his bachelor's degree.
Pete's non-profit involvement includes serving as president and director of the Platte Institute for Economic Research, a member of the Board of Trustees for the American Enterprise Institute, and a member of the Board of Directors of Bellevue University. He also serves on the Global Advisory Board for the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Pete is a board member for the Chicago Cubs Charities, the Omaha board of Children's Scholarship Fund Foundation, the Mid-America Council of the Boy Scouts of America, and a member of the Fund for Omaha Committee. He is a board member of Gambling with the Good Life, an antigambling non-profit organization, and a member of the Advisory Board of the Nebraska Coalition for Ethical Research. Pete also is a director of the Nebraska Game and Parks Foundation, a member of the Board of Directors of Opportunity Education Foundation, a member of the Archbishop's Committee for Development, a board member of the Christian Urban Education Service (CUES), a Knight in the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, and is a member of the Knights of Columbus. Pete and his family are members of St. Margaret Mary's Church.
