By Nathan Zhang and Irving Liu

Specials to the Tsinghua News Center

NASDAQ President and CEO Robert Greifeld gave a speech to Tsinghua students Nov. 30, highlighting his company’s contribution to creating efficient and transparent markets worldwide and also his personal experience as an entrepreneur.

Tsinghua President Gu Binglin met and had a talk with Mr. Greifeld prior to the speech.

“Throughout NASDAQ’s thirty-four year history, we have always looked to the future, to the markets of tomorrow and to countries like China,” Mr. Greifeld  told the crowd of about 200 students at the School of Economics & Management during his speech. 

He said there are currently 24 Chinese companies listed on NASDAQ, the world’s largest electronic stock market, with a combined market cap in excess of $15 billion. Among them, four successful companies are headed by Tsinghua graduates: Charles Chaoyang Zhang from Sohu.com, Raymond Yang from Linktone, and another two CEOs from Tom Online and Kongzhong.

He encouraged Tsinghua students to participate more actively in managing listed companies. “Given the caliber of the Chinese companies we list and the stellar reputation of this university in key areas like business, science, and engineering, I naturally assumed there must be Tsinghua alumni serving as CEOs of NASDAQ-listed companies,” he said.

Mr. Greifeld described his CEO position as “the best job” he could have in the world, but he thought many people don’t know much about what NASDAQ is and what it does.

“NASDAQ is much more than an index. It is a publicly traded company – and a pretty successful one at that,” he said. The skyrocketing of its market value represents the entrepreneurial values CEOs so admire in listed companies.

Among NASDAQ’s 3,300 listed companies are leaders in various areas of technology, retail, communications, financial services, and biotech, such as Microsoft, Intel, Starbucks, and other giants. “All of them share an abiding commitment to growth, innovation, and the entrepreneurial spirit. It’s in our NASDAQ DNA,” he said.

Mr. Greifeld also discussed NASDAQ’s contribution to markets’ efficiency, transparency and the further intelligent use of technology.

 “The consequences of electronic trading have been profoundly good for the investor and good for the markets,” he said, adding, “Electronic trading put the tools directly in the hands of the investor.” He said market transparency is the “oxygen” of the marketplace.

In the last part of his speech, Mr. Greifeld attributed his career success to a lifetime of training for the job. His early jobs included grocery stock boy and Fed Ex deliveryman. In graduate school, he wrote his thesis on the operation of the NASDAQ.

In conclusion, Mr. Greifeld said, “The real magic of NASDAQ is not the numbers or speed or the technology. What sets us apart is the central role we play in the dream of entrepreneurial success worldwide. I believe that dream is best expressed in the words of those who have lived it.”

Mr. Greifeld also visited Tsinghua Science Park.