The WFE's Women Leaders 2025 - Jill Griebenow, Chief Financial Officer, Cboe Global Markets

Name: Jill Griebenow

Job title: Chief Financial Officer

Organisation: Cboe Global Markets

1. Brief description of nominee’s role and job. 

As Chief Financial Officer, Jill Griebenow oversees all financial activities for the company, including accounting, finance, tax, investor relations, treasury and capital markets activities. She is based in Chicago and is also responsible for other corporate administrative functions, including facilities. 

2. Short bio (career highlights, education, interests/hobbies). 

Previously, Griebenow was Senior Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer at Cboe, overseeing the accounting, financial reporting and administrative functions. Prior to serving as Chief Accounting Officer, she served as Chief Financial Officer of Cboe Europe. In that role, she was responsible for all financial control and human resource functions, including financial planning and reporting for Cboe’s European subsidiary.  

Griebenow joined Cboe as a Financial Reporting Specialist in 2011 and also served as Assistant Controller. Prior to joining Cboe, Griebenow was a Senior Manager at Ernst & Young (EY), where she focused on audits of public companies within the asset management and financial services sectors.   

Griebenow has more than 20 years' experience in the financial and public accounting industries and is a Certified Public Accountant and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). She also serves as treasurer of the Navy Pier Board of Directors.  Griebenow holds a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting from the University of Northern Iowa, where she graduated cum laude.   

3. What were your professional highlights and challenges of 2024? 

For the first three quarters of 2024, Cboe reported strong performance across our businesses as more and more investors looked to options and the benefits they can provide a portfolio. Last year, as investors dealt with elections across the globe and the Fed shifted its monetary policy in the US, we were on pace for record SPX and VIX options volumes. In the third quarter of 2024, our derivatives net revenue was up by a strong 13 percent year-over-year as Cboe's proprietary index options product suite reached an all-time high of 4.23 million contracts. This included the second-best quarterly volume for VIX options. We also saw growth within our Data Vantage business as our offerings, which span across geographies and asset classes, translated to solid revenue results. It’s been great to share the strength of our business with shareholders and the investor community.  

Another highlight was our second annual Finance Team Summit. This brought together colleagues from across the world for alignment of our global financial functions, process improvement and team building. I very much look forward to this event every year as the in-person collaboration and benefits of having global associates together is unmatched. I'm also grateful for the strength of our team and I’m proud that we’ve had virtually no turnover since I took over as CFO about a year and a half ago. There was a great team foundation in place when I assumed the role and it’s exciting to see how we’ve built further cohesion across the team while embracing process improvements and automation opportunities. 

The global nature of our business calls for a lot of time on the road. While I love travelling to our different offices, investor conferences and other events, it can be challenging to balance it all with two very active teenagers at home! 

4. Tell us about a few of your key achievements throughout your career? 

My growth within Cboe is an achievement I’m proud of. Many of my major career advancements were accompanied by a lot of change. The change wasn’t limited to my day-to-day job responsibilities, but also impacted where my family and I lived. When I assumed the CFO role for Cboe Europe (previously Bats) in London, I was just 34 years old and was the first female executive team member. This was truly an opportunity of a lifetime. A few years later, Bats was acquired by Cboe and I got the invaluable experience of working through a major integration at the subsidiary level. 

Following the integration, I moved to our headquarters in Chicago and assumed the Chief Accounting Officer role. In that position, I oversaw financial reporting, core accounting and other key functions during a series of acquisitions across the globe and a pivotal time of growth for the company. Lastly, being named Chief Financial Officer in 2023 and having oversight for all financial responsibilities was an exciting opportunity and one I continue to enjoy.   

I’m grateful for all the specific achievements highlighted, but I’m most grateful for the entire journey. From my first internship as a junior in college to becoming a CFO, it took time, hard work, adaptability and serious self-investment to be in the position I am today.   

5. What and who inspires, and has inspired, you to achieve your professional success? 

Looking for new ways to support and help others inspires me tremendously. Through Cboe’s internships, mentorship programme and Cboe Empowers, our community engagement programme, I’m lucky to meet and work with many inspiring young women. They all have such immerse talent and potential, and I love being a role model and mentor to those who ask.  

And being a role model isn’t just a work thing for me. I’m always inspired by being the best possible role model for my daughter, who continues to amaze me and will be heading off to college next year.  

6. How have you overcome setbacks, and what advice would you give to others dealing with setbacks? 

Setbacks are bound to happen throughout life. My advice would be don’t let minor setbacks get you down; rather, view them as learning moments. At certain points in my career, I encountered different people who underestimated my abilities, which can feel very defeating. But these situations drove me to work harder and focus on delivering valuable work. I’ve long believed that actions speak louder than words. It’s sometimes fun to surprise people who don’t think you’re capable of something. My advice is to stay motivated, knock your work out of the park and prove the doubters wrong.  

7. What advice do you have for other women who aspire to be in leadership positions? What is the biggest takeaway you want to leave with the reader? 

Let your work speak for itself. I meet a lot of young people who are very focused on networking but maybe not as focused on the actual work. While networking is extremely important and vital for success, some view it as a shortcut to success and more important than the actual day-to-day. There isn’t one trick to achieving success. Rather, it’s important to work hard, invest in building collaborative relationships, be patient and authentic and care about delivering high quality work. Though it may not seem like it at times, quality work doesn't go unnoticed.