Tom Sosnoff

Options trading pioneer who built thinkorswim platform and tastytrade education network, revolutionizing retail options education.

Tom Sosnoff founded thinkorswim in 1999, creating one of the most sophisticated options trading platforms. He sold it to TD Ameritrade for $750 million in 2009. In 2011, he founded tastytrade, a financial education network providing free daily shows on options trading, portfolio management, and market mechanics. Sosnoff's approach emphasizes selling options premium (theta decay), managing risk through diversification and small position sizing, and using probability-based strategies. He advocates for defined-risk strategies like iron condors, credit spreads, and strangles rather than naked positions. Tastytrade has trained millions of traders and popularized mechanical, rules-based options approaches. Sosnoff's philosophy: trade small, trade often, manage winners, let losers go to expiration.

Sell options premium to collect theta. Use probabilities, not predictions. Trade small, trade often, diversify broadly.

Primarily sell options to collect premium. Favor high implied volatility (IV) environments. Use defined-risk strategies: iron condors, credit spreads, strangles. Manage winning trades at 50% profit. Let losing trades expire worthless if still within defined risk. Keep position size under 5% of portfolio per trade. Diversify across 15-20 uncorrelated underlyings.

1. 1. Premium Selling: Sell options in high IV to collect theta decay
2. 2. Iron Condors: Sell both call and put credit spreads, profit in range
3. 3. Managing Winners: Close at 50% max profit to reduce risk, redeploy capital
4. 4. Undefined Risk: Short strangles/straddles when IV is extremely high

• Target 15-25% annual returns through premium selling
• 65-70% win rate typical on premium selling strategies
• 50% profit-taking rule increases win rate to 80%+
• Recommend 15-20 positions minimum for diversification

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