Foundation and early development The company was founded in 2008 by six alumni of the
Technion: Alon Gonen, Gal Haber, Elad Ben Yitzhak, Omer Elazari, Shlomi Weizman, and Shimon Sofer, with an initial investment of $400,000. The platform was originally a software application for
Windows, but a web-based version launched in 2010. Mobile versions for
iOS and
Android launched in 2011 and 2012, respectively. By January 2013, 40% of transactions were conducted via mobile devices.
IPO and regulatory issues In October 2012, Plus500UK Ltd. was fined £205,128 by the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for inaccurate transaction reporting between June 2010 and November 2011. The inaccuracies impacted 1,332,000 transactions, of which 189,000 went unreported. Operating with a high-automation, low-staff model (40 employees in 2013, growing to 80 by 2015 in
Tel Aviv), Plus500 lacked adequate systems, documented procedures, and staff training to ensure
compliance. In 2014, co-founder Shimon Sofer sold 1.5 million shares for an estimated £4.1 million, causing an 8.7% drop in the share price. In May 2015, the organisation's UK division faced a major crisis when the FCA ordered a freeze on all UK accounts as part of an anti-money-laundering review. Unlike traditional brokers, Plus500 allowed customers to start trading with minimal verification and required complete documentation only upon withdrawal, even enabling account creation through
Facebook. The account freeze roughly halved Plus500's market capitalisation, from £860 million to £459.6 million. During this crisis, Plus500's management agreed to sell the company to
Playtech, an online gambling company that was expanding into trading, for $703 million, roughly half its pre-freeze valuation. However, in November 2015, Playtech withdrew after failing to secure regulatory approval. Following the FCA issues, 72% of affected UK clients resumed trading, though Q2 2015 revenue still declined by 47.5% to $43 million. The short seller
Simon Cawkwell targeted the company amid its rising post-IPO profits. In the same year, Plus500IL Ltd., the company's Israeli subsidiary, received a Trading Arena Licence from the Israel Securities Authority (
ISA). In September, Plus500 launched an
Apple Watch app to trade and view account details. In autumn 2016, Plus500's founders sold 13% of the company's shares, raising £100.75 million but causing a 16% drop in the share price. They retained a 22% stake. In December 2017, Plus500's
Singapore subsidiary, Plus500SG Pte Ltd., obtained a Capital Markets Services licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (
MAS) to trade in securities and leveraged forex. In June 2018, Plus500 launched an Economic Calendar, providing global financial events and indicators in partnership with
Dow Jones & Company, along with a list of impacted instruments per event. That same month, shares of Plus500 were listed in the main market of the London Stock Exchange, and the company joined the
FTSE 250 Index of leading mid-cap firms. By 2018, Plus500's trading apps supported 32 languages, including English, German, Italian, Spanish, French, Arabic, and Chinese. By the end of 2018, Plus500 reported a 33% increase in revenue, reaching $437.2 million (£314.7 million) compared to $327.9 million in the previous year. Net profit rose by 70% to $199.7 million. In 2021, Plus500 appointed
Jacob A. Frenkel, former chairman of
JP MorganChase International and former governor of the
Bank of Israel, as chairman. The company announced its agreement to acquire Cunningham Commodities LLC and Cunningham Trading Systems LLC, finalising the acquisition by July as part of its expansion into the U.S. futures market. During the summer of 2021, Plus500 opened a new R&D centre in Tel Aviv and introduced "Plus500 Invest", a stock-trading platform featuring over 2,000 instruments. By the third quarter of 2021, the company reported having 166,310 active clients. In March 2022, Plus500 acquired Japan-based EZ Invest Securities, specialising in securities and derivatives trading. Later, in September, it launched TradeSniper, a futures trading app for U.S. retail clients. In August 2024, Plus500 announced plans to return $185.5 million to shareholders through a $110 million share buyback and $75.5 million in dividends. The company benefited from global volatility driven by events like the
Covid-19 pandemic,
2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine, and a
conflict in Gaza since 7 October 2023 and expects to benefit from the
U.S. elections in November 2024. Plus500 also intends to focus on expanding into the U.S., UAE, and Japanese markets. In March 2025, Plus500 agreed to acquire the entire share capital of Mehta Equities Limited, an Indian financial services company regulated by the
Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), for approximately $20 million. In February 2026, Plus500 reported revenue of $792.4 million for 2025, compared with $768.3 million in 2024, while operating profit rose to $342.6 million from $336.1 million and net profit rose to $281.3 million from $273.1 million. The company also announced $187.5 million in shareholder returns, comprising $87.5 million in dividends and a $100 million share buyback, and said its non-OTC business had generated more than $100 million in revenue for the first time. In the same month, it completed its acquisition of Mehta Equities and expanded its U.S. retail offering into event-based prediction markets through a partnership with
Kalshi. ==Model==