# Jeffrey Terry Green
> Founder, Chairman and CEO at the trade desk
- Profile type: Person
- Profile status: comprehensive
- Last updated: 2026-04-26T00:00:00.000Z
- Canonical URL: https://thestateofstreaming.com/people/jeff-green-2/
- Also known as: Jeffrey Green, Jeff T. Green, Jeffrey T. Green
## Summary
Jeff Green is the founder, chairman, and CEO of The Trade Desk (NASDAQ: TTD), the largest independent demand-side platform. He co-founded the company in 2009 after Microsoft acquired his first ad-exchange venture, AdECN, in 2007, and took TTD public in September 2016. Green is the most vocal industry advocate for the open internet against walled-garden consolidation, and is the architect behind Unified ID 2.0, the cookie-replacement identity standard now stewarded by Prebid.org.

## Profile facts

- Current title: Founder, Chairman and CEO
- Current company: the trade desk (https://thestateofstreaming.com/companies/the-trade-desk/)


## Career trajectory

- 2001-06-01 — B.A., English literature (minors: marketing, accounting) at brigham-young-university
- 2003-01-01 — Technical account manager, MSN division at microsoft. Early career at Microsoft's MSN division in Salt Lake City.
- 2004-01-01 — Co-founder at adecn. Co-founded AdECN, an early demand-side ad exchange.
- 2007-08-01 — Strategy lead, Online Services Division (post-AdECN acquisition) at microsoft. Stayed at Microsoft for two years after AdECN acquisition; oversaw reseller and channel partner business including monetization of Facebook ads, Fox Sports, MSNBC, and Hotmail.
- 2009-11-01 — Co-founder and CEO at the-trade-desk. Co-founded The Trade Desk with Dave Pickles.
- 2016-09-21 — Founder, chairman and CEO (post-IPO) at the-trade-desk. Took The Trade Desk public on Nasdaq under ticker TTD.
- 2021-12-15 — Signed The Giving Pledge. Committed to give away more than 90 percent of his wealth during his lifetime.
- 2026-03-04 — Insider conviction-buy of 6 million TTD shares (~$148M) at the-trade-desk. Form 4 disclosure following price-pressure period; shares rose roughly 18 percent on the day the purchase was disclosed.


## Media appearances

- 2026-03-13 — podcast: Episode 164: Ari and Jeff Green on his giant stock purchase, OpenPath, AI plans, Marketecture (https://news.marketecture.tv/podcast/s/marketecture/episode_164_ari_and_jeff_green_talk_about_his_giant_stock_purchase_openpath_their_ai_plans_and_more)
- 2026-01-08 — keynote: Jeff Green at CES 2026: 2026 will be the open internet's 'best year yet', Adweek (https://www.adweek.com/media/the-trade-desk-jeff-green-ces-open-web/)
- 2025-06-19 — panel: Cannes Lions 2025: Stagwell-hosted panel on the future of news, Cannes Lions / Stagwell (https://x.com/TheTradeDesk/status/1936154869938733413)
- 2024-11-21 — podcast: Jeff Green on how The Trade Desk's new OS can improve the CTV ecosystem, The Current Podcast (https://thecurrentpodcast.simplecast.com/episodes/jeff-green-on-how-the-trade-desks-new-os-can-improve-the-ctv-ecosystem-DewOYH4_)
- 2023-02-21 — podcast: Jeff Green: Modernizing Advertising — Invest Like the Best Ep. 315, Invest Like the Best (https://open.spotify.com/episode/1ve6xDXPExcynJpY3mWztq)

_This page uses only public-professional information: roles, public statements, on-record media appearances, SEC filings, and corporate biography. No personal contact information, family details, or non-professional activity is included._

## Key facts

- Co-founded The Trade Desk in 2009 with former Microsoft colleague Dave Pickles, and serves as founder, chairman, and CEO. — The Trade Desk: https://www.thetradedesk.com/about-us/our-leadership
- Took The Trade Desk public on Nasdaq in September 2016 under ticker TTD after raising approximately $120 million in venture capital. — Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Green_(businessman)
- Previously co-founded AdECN, described as the world's first online advertising exchange, which was acquired by Microsoft in 2007. — Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Green_(businessman)
- Personally purchased approximately 6 million TTD shares for roughly $148 million between March 2 and March 4, 2026, at weighted-average prices of $23.49 to $25.08 per share, per the Form 4 filing. — The Trade Desk press room: https://www.thetradedesk.com/press-room/the-trade-desk-ceo-jeff-green-dropped-148m-on-company-stock
- Public architect and advocate for Unified ID 2.0, the open-source cookie-replacement identity standard The Trade Desk released into the stewardship of Prebid.org. — The Current (The Trade Desk): https://www.thecurrent.com/in-human-terms-episode-15-unified-id-2-0
- Signed The Giving Pledge in 2021, committing to give away more than 90 percent of his wealth during his lifetime. — Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Green_(businessman)
- Earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature with minors in marketing and accounting from Brigham Young University in 2001; later completed a degree in marketing communications from the University of Southern California. — Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Green_(businessman)
- At Cannes Lions 2025, Green spoke on a Stagwell-hosted panel on the future of news and advertising alongside journalism content. — The Trade Desk (X): https://x.com/TheTradeDesk/status/1936154869938733413
- Argued at CES 2026 that 2026 will be the open internet's strongest year yet, citing AI advances and improved measurement as drivers shifting brand dollars away from walled gardens. — Adweek: https://www.adweek.com/media/the-trade-desk-jeff-green-ces-open-web/


## Related

- the trade desk (Founder, chairman and CEO) — https://thestateofstreaming.com/companies/the-trade-desk/
- unified id 2 (Architect and public advocate) — https://thestateofstreaming.com/products/unified-id-2/
- ventura ecosystem (CEO oversight; reframed product Feb 2026) — https://thestateofstreaming.com/products/ventura-ecosystem/
- openpath (CEO; OpenPath under Publicis/Omnicom audit pressure) — https://thestateofstreaming.com/products/openpath/
- ian colley (Departed CMO (April 2026)) — https://thestateofstreaming.com/people/ian-colley/
- anthony wood (Roku CEO; UID2 ecosystem partner) — https://thestateofstreaming.com/people/anthony-wood/
- amazon (Competitor framing — Amazon DSP / DTE identity stack) — https://thestateofstreaming.com/companies/amazon/
- google (Competitor framing — DV360 / walled garden) — https://thestateofstreaming.com/companies/google/
- microsoft (Former employer (post-AdECN acquisition, 2007–2009)) — https://thestateofstreaming.com/companies/microsoft/


## External coverage

- The Trade Desk: Our Leadership: Jeff Green, Founder & CEO (https://www.thetradedesk.com/about-us/our-leadership)
- The Trade Desk Investor Relations: Board of Directors: Jeff Green (https://investors.thetradedesk.com/governance/board-of-directors/person-details/default.aspx?ItemId=aff4caba-2eb8-4c16-80fd-1f9c93ea514b)
- 2026-03-05 — The Trade Desk: The Trade Desk CEO Jeff Green Dropped $148M on Company Stock (https://www.thetradedesk.com/press-room/the-trade-desk-ceo-jeff-green-dropped-148m-on-company-stock)
- 2026-03-05 — The Motley Fool: Jeff Green Loads Up on The Trade Desk's Beaten-Down Stock. Should You Buy, Too? (https://www.fool.com/investing/2026/03/05/jeff-green-loads-up-on-the-trade-desks-beaten-down/)
- 2026-01-08 — Adweek: The Trade Desk's Jeff Green Says 2026 Will Be the Open Internet's 'Best Year Yet' (https://www.adweek.com/media/the-trade-desk-jeff-green-ces-open-web/)
- Digiday: Jeff Green: 'I think it's a strategic mistake for Google to get rid of cookies' (https://digiday.com/media-buying/jeff-green-i-think-its-a-strategic-mistake-for-google-to-get-rid-of-cookies-in-q1-2024/)
- The Current: The open internet 2025, part 1: Framing a year of change (https://www.thecurrent.com/opinion-jeff-green-open-internet-2025-framing-a-year-of-change-ttd)

## Profile
Jeff Green is the most identifiable founder-CEO in independent ad tech, and arguably its loudest public voice. Since taking The Trade Desk public in September 2016, he has used every keynote, earnings call, and podcast appearance to make the same argument: that the open internet, anchored by independent supply, identity standards like Unified ID 2.0, and demand-side platforms not owned by media sellers, is structurally healthier than a market dominated by Google, Meta, and Amazon's walled gardens.

That posture is being tested in 2026. The Trade Desk reported its slowest annual revenue growth as a public company for FY 2025, MoffettNathanson cut its price target on Feb. 26, 2026 calling the deceleration structural, Publicis and Omnicom are auditing OpenPath fees, and three senior executives — including the on-record architect of the Feb. 24 Ventura Ecosystem launch — exited in early April. Green's response, per his Form 4 filing, was to spend roughly $148 million of personal capital on TTD shares between March 2 and March 4 at prices between $23.49 and $25.08. The next public read is the May 7, 2026 Q1 earnings call.

Green's career arc — Microsoft MSN, AdECN, Microsoft again post-acquisition, then The Trade Desk — has consistently put him at exchange-and-DSP infrastructure rather than at media sellers. That positioning underpins his open-internet rhetoric and gives him standing on the standards side of the industry, where Unified ID 2.0 is now stewarded by Prebid.org.

## Tags

- ad-tech
- dsp
- open-internet
- unified-id-2
- ctv
- founder-ceo
- the-trade-desk

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