Its the end of an era in the futures market as industry pioneer Leslie Les Rosenthal, co-founder of Rosenthal Collins Group LLC (RCG), an independent futures brokerage and clearing firm, has passed away.
Rosenthal died on Sept. 16 at the age of 84 after a brief illness.
In a statement, RCGs J. Robert Collins, the firm’s other co-founder and Managing Partner, said:
“Our hearts are heavy with the loss of one of the industry’s great leaders and my friend and partner for the past three decades. His breadth of knowledge, depth of experience, creativity and passion for the business helped make the futures industry what it is today. I will miss Les greatly, but it has been an honor to build and grow our business together and to ensure that we always put our clients first in every situation.”
RCG Chairman & CEO Scott Gordon said: “It’s been a profound privilege to work with Les over the better part of my career. He had the rare combination of qualities that made him so successful, not only as a visionary and strategist but as the most pragmatic person I’ve encountered. Our staff will miss his brilliance and sense of humor. While he won’t be around to see through some of the latest seeds we’ve planted for our growth, he made his imprint on the foundation we’ve laid in recent months, and we will proudly carry on the principles that he and Bob have instilled in our organization.”
Rosenthal spent his entire career in the futures industry. He started his career as a trading floor runner,working for many
retail brokerage firms, includingHarris Upham and LamsonBrothers, as a floor manager andmarket analyst. By 1963, he was apit broker in the wheat pit fillingorders for such firms as Bacheand Hayden, Stone. Afterward moving up the the ladder in the brokerage business, he founded his own brokerage firm, Rosenthal & Co., in 1970 as a CBOT clearing member.
In 1981 and 1982, Les was elected to two one-year terms as chairmanof the Chicago Board of Trade. During his terms of office, he creatednew classes of membership for the CBOT to allow trading opportunitiesto develop. He was also responsible for enabling the innovationand growth of financial futures
In 1988, he merged his business with Collins Commodities, which traced its roots back to 1923 with the founding of Greene and Collins. Together, they became Rosenthal Collins Group.
Les Rosenthal was an early and vocal proponent of introducing financial futures contracts as well as electronic trading. He said: “Unless you do something to change with the times, you become non-existent.”
He was inducted into the FIA Futures Hall of Fame in its inaugural year in 2005.
Rosenthal first became a member of the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) in 1958 and served for two terms as its Chairman beginning in 1981. He was also Chairman of the Board of Trade Clearing Corporation. He was a director of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and MidAmerica Commodity Exchange and a founding member of the National Futures Association.
