Scott Burnside of ESPN.com reported on Wednesday evening that Matthew Hulsizer, CEO of PEAK6 Investments, is “in the final stages of negotiating a new arena lease agreement with the City of Glendale” with the intention to then make a bid for the Phoenix Coyotes.

Yes indeed: The “mystery buyer” has been unmasked. From ESPN.com:

Although Hulsizer could not be reached for comment, sources familiar with the businessman and situation in Phoenix believe he may be the answer to the NHL’s search for a viable owner.

In fact a number of sources said he represents the last, best chance to keep this team in Arizona. “He has an unbelievable financial mind,” one source that has known Hulsizer for years told ESPN.com. “He’s exactly the kind of guy that the league needs. He’s a legitimate hockey guy with a lot of money.”

He clearly likes a challenge. This Smart Business Chicago story gives you a sense of his innovation in the field of financial services:

Hulsizer was formerly a risk manager at Swiss Bank, but he knew there had to be a better way to do business. When he founded his financial services firm in 1997, he stepped out on a limb. PEAK6 became the first equity options firm to go fully “off-floor”; then Hulsizer decided to focus on less-liquid securities, which the larger players had avoided.

What else do we know about him? Democratic Party supporter (or maybe Chicago politics loyalist). He attended Amhest College, and Burnside said he played collegiate hockey. Served as a board member for Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre Company, which gave the world one Mr. John Gavin Malkovich.

Bio:

Matthew Hulsizer

Matthew Hulsizer is a co-founder of PEAK6 Investments, L.P.

Mr. Hulsizer serves as one of two managing members of PEAK6, LLC, which is the general partner of PEAK6 Investments, L.P. From May 1994 until he co-founded PEAK6 in 1997, he was a director and risk manager for Swiss Bank, a global financial-services corporation that merged with Union Bank of Switzerland to become UBS AG. From 1991 to December 1993, Mr. Hulsizer worked as a senior trader with O’Connor & Associates, a proprietary derivatives trading firm that was acquired by Swiss Bank and subsequently integrated into Swiss Bank Capital Markets.

Mr. Hulsizer is a 1991 graduate of Amherst College. He also served as a board member of New Jersey’s Peddie School and Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre Company.

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Finalist
Financial Services

Matthew Hulsizer’s recipe for success is simple, consisting of just two ingredients: relentless innovation and flawless execution. As the co-founder and CEO of PEAK6 Investments LP, he’s learned you can’t have one without the other.

Hulsizer was formerly a risk manager at Swiss Bank, but he knew there had to be a better way to do business. When he founded his financial services firm in 1997, he stepped out on a limb. PEAK6 became the first equity options firm to go fully “off-floor”; then Hulsizer decided to focus on less-liquid securities, which the larger players had avoided.

Those chances paid off as the company grew from one trade, two employees and a desk on his first day to almost 20 wholly owned companies — and investments in numerous others — in five offices across the U.S. that executed more than 100 million options contracts in 2009.

Hulsizer enjoys creating new businesses, but he knows the rest of his team needs to be just as passionate about their success. In 2006, he formed PEAK6 Advisors to make investing prowess available to outside investors. There’s also OptionsHouse, a retail online brokerage with the technology, tools and bloodline of PEAK6, that brings professional trading data and tools to retail customers.

PEAK6 also funded and developed WeSeed, a social network that empowers and educates stock market newcomers.

While he’s happy with the growth and profitability of PEAK6 — which has never had a losing quarter — Hulsizer has to go back to his two-ingredient recipe and look at the other half. And fortunately, he’s just as proud that through the success, PEAK6 has maintained a clean regulatory history.

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