Blair Hull

Marson Blair Hull, Jr. (born September 3, 1942), commonly known as Blair Hull, is an American businessman and politician, notable for his attempt to win the Democratic Party nomination to serve in the United States Senate from Illinois in 2004.

He is the founder and CEO of the Hull Group, an equity option market making firm that was sold to Goldman Sachs. He is currently chairman and chief executive officer of Matlock Capital, a family office.cite news
last = Kane
first = Kate A.
title = Risky Business, Sound Thinking
pages = 85
publisher = Fast company
date = April 1997
url = http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/08/hullbenchmark.html
accessdate = 2006-08-19 ]

In early media polls leading up to the March 16 2004 primary election Hull enjoyed a substantial lead and widespread name recognition resulting from a well-financed advertisement effort. He spent over $28 million of his personal wealth on the campaign.

When allegations that Hull had abused his ex-wife were reported in the media, Hull's poll numbers dropped and he failed to win the nomination.cite news | first=David | last=Mendell | title=Obama Routs Democratic Foes; Ryan Tops Crowded GOP Field|date=March 17, 2004 | url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/specials/elections/chi-0403170332mar17,1,1737252.story?coll=chi-news-hed | work =Chicago Tribune | accessdate = 2007-09-30] Illinois State Senator Barack Obama later became the nominee.

Education

He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics from the University of California, Santa Barbara, his MBA from Santa Clara University and graduated from the Harvard OPM Program.

Career

Hull spent 6 years in the Army after graduating University.

In 1980 he worked as a market maker on the floor of the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) where he successfully continued to apply his valuation techniques, eventually being named one of the CBOE’s first Designated Primary Market Makers.

In 1985, Hull founded Hull Trading Company in Chicago and set up a team qualified in investing, science and mathematics. This multi-disciplinary group designed and implemented innovations that combined trading knowledge technological innovations and quantitative models by using computerized trading to capture thousands of very short-term stock and options mispricings each day while continually calculating portfolio-wide risk on a real-time basis. Hull Trading Company became one of the world’s premier market-making firms and was acquired by Goldman, Sachs & Co. in 1999 for $531 million. Shortly thereafter, Blair Hull formed his current company, Matlock Capital.

Personal

A month before the primary elections a news story broke regarding his divorce from his ex-wife. The controversy ended up destroying the Hull campaign. [Wallace-Wells, Ben. [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/01/magazine/01axelrod.t.html?_r=1&ei=5070&en=765f1fc42884f6d3&ex=1177905600&oref=slogin&pagewanted=all "Obama’s Narrator"] , "New York Times" (2007-04-01): "As the 2004 Senate primary neared, it was clear that it was a contest between two people: the millionaire liberal, Hull, who was leading in the polls, and Obama, who had built an impressive grass-roots campaign. About a month before the vote, The Chicago Tribune revealed, near the bottom of a long profile of Hull, that during a divorce proceeding, Hull’s second wife filed for an order of protection. In the following few days, the matter erupted into a full-fledged scandal that ended up destroying the Hull campaign and handing Obama an easy primary victory. The Tribune reporter who wrote the original piece later acknowledged in print that the Obama camp had 'worked aggressively behind the scenes' to push the story."] Hull tried to keep the divorce records sealed, but pressure from journalists and his opposing candidates forced him to release them.

The papers claimed that his ex-wife alleged that during a physical fight between them he had threatened to kill her. This led to his arrest for battery, however no charges were ever filed.cite web
last = Voegeli
first = William
title = The Rise and Fall of Blair Hull
work = Writings
publisher = The Claremont Institute
date = March 19 2004
url = http://www.claremont.org/writings/040319voegeli.html
accessdate = 2006-08-19 ]

References

cite news
last = Fishman
first = Ted C.
title = Dead Men Trading
publisher = Esquire
date = February 1 2000
url = http://www.keepmedia.com/pubs/Esquire/2000/02/01/171758?extID=10026
accessdate = 2006-08-19

cite news
last = Kane
first = Kate A.
title = Risky Business, Sound Thinking
pages = 85
publisher = Fast company
date = April 1997
url = http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/08/hullbenchmark.html
accessdate = 2006-08-19

cite news
last = Berkowitz
first = Jeff
title = Interviewed on Public Affairs
publisher = Chicago Tribune
date = May 29 2003
url = http://ericzorn.com/extra/hull/
accessdate = 2006-08-19

cite news
last = Patel
first = Navroz
title = From Politics to portfolios
publisher = "Risk" magazine
date = March 1 2005
url = http://www.risk.net/public/showPage.html?page=211705
accessdate = 2005-03-15

Notes

External links

cite web
title = Matlock Capital
month = August | year = 2006
url = http://www.matcap.com/founder2.htm
accessdate = 2006-08-19

cite web
title = Hull family Foundation
month = August | year = 2006
url = http://www.hullfamilyfoundation.org/
accessdate = 2006-08-19

cite web
title = Blair Hull
month = August | year = 2006
url = http://www.turtletrader.com/trader-hull.html
accessdate = 2006-08-19

cite web
title = Blair in Books
month = August | year = 2006
url = http://www.google.co.uk/books?q=%22Blair+Hull%22&as_brr=0
accessdate = 2006-08-19
* [http://www-finmath.uchicago.edu/new/msfm/prospective/ourprogram_advisory.php Serves on the Board]

Further reading

cite book
last = Schwager
first = Jack D.
authorlink = Jack D. Schwager
title = The New Market Wizards
publisher = Collins
year = 1994
id = ISBN 0-88730-667-5

cite news
last = Blake
first = Rich
coauthors = Imogen Rose-Smith
title = The 40 greatest trades of all time
work = Feature
publisher = Trader Monthly
date = April 2005
url = http://www.traderdaily.com/magazine/article/211.html
accessdate = 2006-08-19

cite news
last = Patel
first = Navroz
title = From politics to portfolios
work = Profile
publisher = Risk magazine
date = March 2005
url = http://www.risk.net/public/showPage.html?page=211705
accessdate = 2006-08-19

cite news
last = Hull
first = Blair
title = The Future of Trading
work = Feature
publisher = Futures Industry Association
date = December 2000
url = http://www.futuresindustry.org/fimagazi-1929.asp?a=670
accessdate = 2006-08-19