Pete Ricketts

John Peter Ricketts (born August 19, 1964) is an American businessman and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Nebraska since 2023.

Ricketts was born in Nebraska City on August 19, 1964, the oldest of four children of Joe Ricketts and Marlene (Volkmer) Ricketts.

The family later moved to Omaha.

Joe Ricketts founded First Omaha Securities in 1975, one of the first discount stockbrokers in the United States.

Ricketts and his siblings, Tom, Laura, and Todd, all attended Westside High School in Omaha, from which Ricketts graduated in 1982.

He attended the University of Chicago, receiving a BA in biology in 1986 and an MBA in marketing and finance in 1991.

After completing graduate school, Ricketts returned to Omaha.

He worked for the Union Pacific Railroad for a year, then as a salesman for a Chicago environmental consultant.

In 1993, he went to work for his father's business, initially in the call center for a few months, and subsequently appointed by his father to a number of executive positions, ultimately becoming the company's chief operating officer during his father's tenure as CEO.

It prospered, changing its name to Ameritrade, going public in 1997, and changing its name to TD Ameritrade after acquiring TD Waterhouse in 2006.

Marlene was a teacher.

In 1997, Ricketts married Susanne Shore.

A native of Garden City, Kansas, Shore grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and earned a bachelor's degree in English and then an MBA from Oklahoma State University.

After a stint working for the dean of students at the University of South Dakota, she came to Omaha to complete a one-year course in nursing at Creighton University.

At the time of her marriage to Ricketts, she was working as a nurse at St. Joseph's Hospital in Omaha.

Ricketts and Shore have three children.

Ricketts unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate in 2006, losing to incumbent Ben Nelson.

In a 2006 report, he stated his net worth at between $45million and $50million.

In 2006, Ricketts left Ameritrade to run for the U.S. Senate.

In 2007, Ricketts co-founded, and became director and president of the Platte Institute for Economic Research, which he called a "free market think tank", and which Nebraska newspapers have called "conservative".

From 2007 to 2012, Ricketts was a national committeeman for the Republican National Committee; from 2007 to 2013, he was a trustee of the American Enterprise Institute.

In 2009, the Ricketts family trust bought the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB) from Tribune Media.

He resigned from the organization in 2013 to concentrate on his 2014 gubernatorial campaign.

He ran for governor of Nebraska in 2014, and after narrowly winning the six-way Republican primary, defeated Democratic Party nominee Chuck Hassebrook, 57% to 39%.

[[File:2014 Nebraska gubernatorial election results map by county.svg|thumb|350px|alt=Final results by county|Final results by county in 2014: {{legend|#E27F7F|Pete Ricketts}}

{{legend|#c21b18|80–90%}}

{{legend|#D72F30|70–80%}}

{{legend|#D75D5D|60–70%}}

{{legend|#E27F7F|50–60%}}

A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 40th governor of Nebraska from 2015 to 2023.

Ricketts is the eldest son of Joe Ricketts, founder of TD Ameritrade.

He is also, with other family members, a part owner of Major League Baseball's Chicago Cubs.

After his loss to incumbent Ben Nelson, he returned to the company's board, remaining until the Ricketts family relinquished its board seats in 2016.

As part owner of the Cubs, Ricketts has a 2016 World Series title to his credit, as they won the championship that year, defeating the Cleveland Indians.

He was reelected in 2018, defeating Democratic nominee Bob Krist, 59% to 41%.

As governor, Ricketts approved various budgets and tax cuts.

He was also a firm supporter of capital punishment, and in 2018 the state carried out its first execution since 1997.

Ricketts left office after his second term as governor expired on January 5, 2023; several days later he was appointed to the U.S. Senate by his gubernatorial successor, Jim Pillen, to fill the vacancy created when Ben Sasse resigned to become president of the University of Florida.

Ricketts is seeking election to complete Sasse's term in the 2024 special election and has announced he intends to seek a full six-year term in 2026.

Ricketts stepped down from the Cubs' board of directors in 2019 to focus on being governor.