Watch: Innovation — From Idea to Reality: A Conversation Richard Sandor and Steven Kaplan

In an insightful and engaging conversation presented by the University of Chicago’s Becker Friedman Institute, Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and the Coase-Sandor Institute for Law and Economics on Feb. 2, 2021, the financial markets innovator Richard L. Sandor described how he created three new markets—T-Bond Futures, Climate Futures, and AMERIBOR, the successor to LIBOR. From his days as an economics professor with pathbreaking ideas, to his years as an entrepreneur and business owner consulted by leaders around the world, Sandor reviewed his career and described the concepts that transformed modern finance.

Polsky Center Director Steven N. Kaplan, a UChicago Booth professor and financial entrepreneur in his own right, led the discussion with Sandor on issues ranging from brainstorming to implementation, as well as the many hurdles that Sandor faced along the way. Their dialogue was also informed by Sandor’s business leadership experience, including his current service as Chairman and CEO of the American Financial Exchange (AFX), an electronic exchange for direct interbank/financial institution lending and borrowing, as well as CEO of Environmental Financial Products, which specializes in inventing, designing and developing new financial markets.

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