About Ben Delo
Ben Delo is a British entrepreneur, mathematician and philanthropist. He is a major donor and supporter to several passions and causes, including maths education and research, free enquiry and academic freedom, building collaboration across the Commonwealth, as well as neurodiversity and young people with autism.
Ben was born in Sheffield to a civil engineer father and schoolteacher mother. He spent his childhood moving between a succession of primary schools, and at the age of 11 he was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome. It was at Lord Williams’s School, a state secondary school in Thame, Oxfordshire, that he began to flourish and with the right structured support in place, his academic potential was unlocked. He was awarded a place at Oxford University and later graduated in 2005 with a double first-class honours degree in Mathematics and Computer Science.
He began his career as a software engineer at IBM, where he was granted patents for several inventions. Working as part of a small team, he developed innovative software to autonomically repair internet links to material that had been archived or moved – an industry first. Ben went on to develop high-frequency trading systems at the innovative hedge-fund GSA Capital and global investment bank J.P. Morgan.
In 2012, Ben moved to Hong Kong to work for JP Morgan, and here developed an interest in Bitcoin and began experimenting with the asset. In 2014 he co-founded BitMEX, the world’s first crypto-currency derivatives trading platform which, at its peak, handled more than one trillion dollars in trading volume annually. Ben is acknowledged as the primary architect of the platform’s flagship bitcoin-dollar perpetual swap, which was characterised in Bloomberg as “one of the most important financial innovations to come out of the crypto space”.
Ben began his philanthropic giving as soon as BitMEX reached profitability. In 2019 he became one of the youngest-ever signatories of The Giving Pledge, pledging to give away the majority his wealth during his lifetime. Since stepping back from an executive role at the firm, philanthropy has become his main focus, and he is a major donor to a number of causes which reflect long held beliefs and values.
Philanthropy
Ben cares about the impact of his giving today, but also seeks to support causes that will continue to have a positive impact on society and generations long into the future. Ben’s philanthropy is broadly structured into four priority areas:
- Free enquiry and academic freedom
- Building collaboration across the Commonwealth
- Championing maths, maths education and research
- Neurodiversity and young people with autism
Free enquiry and academic freedom
Ben supports individuals, organisations, and causes that uphold and promote the values of tolerance, freedom of expression and open debate. He believes that academic freedom, diversity of thought, and a plurality of ideas are all vital components of academic excellence and a healthy democratic society.
Mathematics education and research
As a mathematician himself, Ben recognises the importance of mathematics in modern societies, particularly maths research and the future of the discipline as AI becomes an increasingly common tool for making new discoveries. By supporting institutions that advance mathematical discovery and causes that make maths more accessible, he seeks to help the best and brightest to address the challenges of tomorrow.
Neurodiversity and young people with autism
Recognising that some of the greatest minds need to be given the space and environment to succeed, Ben also believes it is critical that neurodiversity is better understood, and that neurodiverse people are championed. He supports causes which recognise that diversity in the way that people think – and how they interpret and share their perspectives – needs to be seen as an asset to be nurtured, not a disability to be managed.
In 2020 Ben established the Sheila Coates Foundation with a significant endowment. Ben named the Foundation in memory of his teacher Sheila Coates, who pioneered a service to support children with autism and related conditions from which Ben personally benefited. The Foundation is a grant-giving charity which supports projects around the UK to help children and young people with Asperger’s Syndrome and those on the autistic spectrum. Ben has credited the work of Sheila Coates in helping him to achieve his full potential and is delighted that the Foundation has since helped over 18,500 autistic students to succeed through its grants, with over 450 schools and colleges benefitting from funded activities and initiatives. In 2025, Ben gave a £25 million endowment to the Foundation securing its future and enabling it to expand its support to more schools and students.
Building collaboration across the Commonwealth
Ben has always seen great potential in the Commonwealth as a vehicle for spreading opportunity, prosperity and democratic values. He joined the Hong Kong branch of the Royal Commonwealth Society shortly after moving to the city and has sat on its council since 2014. In 2020 he set up the Commonwealth Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong. He supports causes that reinvigorate what it means to belong to a modern Commonwealth, believing it has a vitally important role to play in fostering a global community built on truly liberal ideas of tolerance, freedom, openness and progress.