David Russo, fresh from Harvard Business School, secures a job in Wall Street as the dot-com bubble had just depressed the market. A chance meeting led to an opportunity at New York Mercantile Exchange—the world's largest energy exchange. At the Merc, he finds his working-class background helps him compete in the aggressive atmosphere. Russo quickly rises to become the Head of Strategy where he helps in the transition to electronic trading. In the aftermath of 9-11, Russo joined with colleagues to establish the Dubai Mercantile Exchange, a partnership between NYMEX and the government of Dubai. Through this venture, Russo helped accelerate the development of capital markets in the region.