A Brief History of Options
Around 350 B.C.E.
The first known option buyer in the world was the Greek mathematician Thales of Miletus.
One year he predicted that the season’s olive harvest would be much larger than usual.
During the growing season, Thales approached the owners of the presses and asked them to sell him the right to use the olive presses during the harvest season. Thales agreed to give the owners of the olive presses a small premium immediately, which the owners would keep either way, in order to lock in the right to use the presses for the next harvest at an agreed upon price.
The owners didn’t mind doing this as they would get a guaranteed am…Read more
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