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as part of a small team, he developed innovative software to autonomically repair internet links to material that had been archived or moved – an industry first.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.
Some of the causes that Ben supports include:
Battle of Ideas Festival
Ben supports the Battle of Ideas Festival and its work to provide an opportunity to debate the big issues of our times in a full and frank manner. The festival brings together a wide variety of voices and creates a safe space for everyone to have their say, with the aim of reflecting constructively on the big issues in politics, science, economics, culture, the law, and more.
Index on Censorship
Ben supports the Index on Censorship and its efforts to campaign for and defend freedom of expression. The organisation fights censorship worldwide through a combination of producing informational resources, campaigning, and a live events programme to explore the vital role of free speech. The Index on Censorship also publishes an award-winning quarterly magazine and offers a year-long programme of support to a select group of individuals and organisations battling censorship in journalism, the arts and campaigning through its Freedom of Expression Awards.
Committee for Academic Freedom
The Committee for Academic Freedom (CAF) is a campaigning organisation devoted to raising awareness of threats to academic freedom on a discipline-by-discipline basis. Comprising of academics from all disciplines and of all points of view, the CAF works to protect free inquiry, support scholars at risk, and restore intellectual openness to UK higher education. It does this through a range of activities, such as monitoring cases of censorship, raising public awareness through writing and media work, and advocating for policy changes.
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.
Ben has provided support to:
Worcester College, University of Oxford
In 2018 Ben made a major gift to Worcester College, University of Oxford, his alma mater. This has been invested in the College’s endowment, with the annual return funding two teaching Fellowships in perpetuity. They are named the Ben Delo Fellowship in Mathematics and the Bernard Sufrin Fellowship in Computer Science in honour of Ben’s tutor. In addition, Ben’s support has created a new fund to support research in mathematical and computing based disciplines, named the Tony Corner Research Fund, in honour of Worcester College’s first Mathematics tutor.
London Institute of Mathematical Sciences
The London Institute of Mathematical Sciences (LIMS) is the UK’s only accredited Independent Research Organisation focused on pure maths and theoretical physics. Its fellows do not teach or award degrees, instead focusing solely on fundamental research that pushes the frontiers of scientific knowledge and has on many occasions led to transformative breakthroughs. In 2025, Ben supported the creation of the Ben Delo Fellowship to further the Institute’s mission to discover more per person than any other research centre by the end of this decade. Ben also sits as a Trustee of the organisation.
MathsWorld
MathsWorld is London’s first maths discovery centre and seeks to spark curiosity, ignite imagination, and show the deep connections between mathematics and the world around us. With over forty innovative exhibits, MathsWorld is seeking to do for mathematics what the Science Museum and the Natural History Museum do for the physical and biological sciences, providing visitors with the chance to interact with maths in new, engaging ways. Ben provided support for the London Discovery Centre.
Dr Frost Maths
Dr Frost Maths is committed to producing free maths resources and videos for students and teachers alike. Over 10 years of teaching, Jamie’s resources have been downloaded over 20 million times, with students answering over 800 million questions on the platform. His work has earned him a Gold Pearson Teaching Prize, a place in the Global Teacher Prize Top 10, and appearances on BBC2’s Britain’s Classroom Heroes. When COVID-19 struck, Jamie’s dedication to supporting the education community earned him the Global Teacher Prize Covid Hero Award. Ben has provided a range of support to the Dr Frost Maths channel.
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.
Ben has supported:
Sheila Coates Foundation
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.
This includes:
King’s College London School for Government
Since 2023 Ben has funded the Ben Delo Commonwealth Leadership Programme, a scholarship programme run by the School for Government at King’s College London. Civil servants from across the Commonwealth and beyond are given the opportunity to study from a diverse curriculum of post-graduate level online courses, all designed to build impact and effectiveness across policymaking and good governance.
In the first intake the scholarship welcomed almost 120 civil servants from 20 member states, providing them with the skills they need to maximise their professional effectiveness and impact, and advance in their careers. Thanks to ongoing support from Ben, the programme will continue in the 2025 and 2026 calendar years, supporting as many as 125 more students.
Commonwealth House in Barbados
In late 2025, Ben provided support for the restoration of the Pine Plantation House in St Michael and the creation of a Commonwealth Hub for the Caribbean. The building will be renamed as Commonwealth House and will support the work of the Commonwealth Society of Barbados to engender confidence, encourage leadership skills and raise awareness of the roles and responsibilities of young citizens.