Blythe Masters
Blythe Masters | |
|---|---|
| Born | Blythe Sally Levett March 22, 1969 Oxford, England |
| Occupation(s) | Private equity executive, fintech leader |
| Years active | 1991–present |
| Known for | Development of credit default swaps, CEO of Digital Asset Holdings, Group CEO of FNZ |
Blythe Sally Jess Masters (born Levett; 22 March 1969) is a British executive specializing in private equity, with a background in financial services and fintech leadership. She formerly held a senior position at JPMorgan Chase, where she played a pivotal role in the development of the credit default swap as a financial instrument.
As a founding partner of Motive Partners, a private equity firm centered on fintech investments, Masters currently occupies the role of Group CEO at FNZ. She also contributes her expertise as an advisory board member at the Chamber of Digital Commerce and serves on the boards of GCM Grosvenor, Forge Global, and CAIS Group. Her previous roles include CEO of the special-purpose acquisition company Motive Capital Corp and board membership at Credit Suisse Group.
Early life and education
Masters was born in Oxford and grew up in the south-east region of England. She attended The King's School located in Canterbury. In 1991, she earned a B.A. degree in economics from Trinity College, Cambridge. Blythe is the daughter of RAF and IAF pilot Gordon Levett.
JPMorgan Chase
After completing internships beginning in 1987, Masters joined JPMorgan Chase in 1991. She was responsible for overseeing credit derivative products and became a managing director by age 28, making her the youngest woman to achieve this rank within the firm. Masters is recognized for pioneering the contemporary credit default swap, an essential derivative used to manage credit risk. In 1994, she led a team that applied credit protection techniques to mitigate J.P. Morgan’s exposure on a $4.8 billion credit line extended to Exxon. This approach resulted in the development of BISTRO (Broad Index Secured Trust Offering), financial instruments that were rapidly adopted by other banking institutions.
During the financial crisis of 2008, derivatives connected to sub-prime mortgages diverged significantly from the original purpose of credit derivatives. This transformation was chronicled in Gillian Tett's book Fool's Gold. Although The Guardian once labeled Masters as "the woman who invented financial weapons of mass destruction," it later issued an apology for inadequately representing her viewpoint. Masters has consistently maintained that credit default swaps were legitimate tools that were misapplied by others. In 2010, she advocated for reforms aimed at enhancing transparency and minimizing systemic risk before the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee.
Between 2001 and 2004, Masters directed Global Credit Portfolio and Credit Policy and Strategy at J.P. Morgan. From 2004 until 2007, she served as CFO of the Investment Bank before becoming head of Global Commodities in 2007. By 2014, according to analytics firm Coalition, J.P. Morgan led investment bank revenues within commodities trading. That year, amid regulatory scrutiny from an investigation by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission into alleged energy market manipulation, J.P. Morgan divested its physical commodities business for $3.5 billion and agreed to pay $410 million to settle without admitting any wrongdoing. The bank defended Masters’ conduct, affirming that no employee acted improperly. Following completion of this sale, Masters exited the firm.
She held chair positions at the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association from 2008 to 2010 and at the Global Financial Markets Association between 2012 and 2014, advocating for enhanced public confidence in financial markets. Masters has also represented the financial sector in Washington on topics such as carbon market frameworks, limits on commodities trading, and reforms to financial regulation.
2015–2025
In March 2015, Masters assumed the role of CEO at Digital Asset Holdings, a firm focused on creating secure distributed ledger technologies aimed at speeding up settlement processes, lowering expenses, and boosting security within regulated sectors. The startup secured funding exceeding $100 million from prominent financial and tech institutions such as Citibank, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Deutsche Boerse, DTCC, CME, IBM, and Accenture. Digital Asset’s blockchain solutions were implemented by organizations including the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) and DTCC. By December 2017, ASX revealed its intention to modernize its post-trade settlement system using a blockchain platform developed by Digital Asset Holdings; nevertheless, ASX ceased utilizing this platform in November 2022. Masters resigned as CEO in December 2018 but continued her involvement as a board member, strategic consultant, and investor.
Towards the end of 2015, reports suggested that Barclays CEO Jes Staley had approached Masters to lead the bank’s investment banking division; however, she publicly affirmed her dedication to Digital Asset Holdings. Between 2015 and 2016, she held the position of chairwoman at Santander Consumer Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SC), a company specializing in technology-driven consumer finance.
Masters joined the board of directors at Phunware in December 2019 and was appointed chairperson in March 2020; she stepped down from this role a year later.
In April 2021, Masters was elected to the board of Credit Suisse Group AG. Later that year, she took on the role of chair for Wilshire Associates’ newly established Digital Assets Advisory Group.
In August 2024, Masters was named Group CEO of FNZ. Subsequently, in February 2025, she returned to JPMorgan as chair of its UK securities division.
Private equity
Masters became part of Motive Capital Partners, a private equity firm, in 2019. In September 2021, she spearheaded Motive’s acquisition of Forge Global—a marketplace for pre-IPO shares—through a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company valued at approximately $2 billion.
Recognition
Bloomberg recognized Masters as one of the 50 most influential individuals in 2016.
Personal life
Masters holds the position of Co-Chair on the Board of the Global Fund for Women and serves on the boards of both The Breast Cancer Research Foundation and ID2020. She previously chaired the Greater New York Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. An amateur rider, Masters was married to Daniel Masters—a former colleague from JPMorgan’s commodities desk—with whom she has a daughter; they divorced in 2001. She later married investor Gareth Evans.