Rory Riggs is an inventor, executive, and investor who applies one system, the Locus Model, across biotechnology, finance, and economics. Mr. Riggs is Executive Chairman of Syntax Data, which has built a foundational coordinate-based information infrastructure for finance and economic data based on his patented Locus Model and Functional Information System (FIS).
Syntax Data (Syntax LLC / Locus Analytics)
Rory Riggs is an inventor, executive, and investor who applies one system, the Locus Model, across biotechnology, finance, and economics.
Founded Locus Analytics in 2009 as an economic research firm to pioneer Systems Economics and develop and patent the Functional Information System. Syntax and Locus Analytics merged in March 2023. Built the coordinate-based Locus Model and FIS information infrastructure for finance and economic data, and the Syntax Stratified Indices.
Executive Chairman / Founder at Syntax Data (Syntax LLC / Locus Analytics)
Transitioned from Chief Executive Officer to Chairman of the Board in June 2026 as Craig Wichner became CEO.
Chairman of the Board at Cibus Global, Ltd.
Co-founder and CEO of Cibus, the leading precision gene-editing company for agriculture. Applied the Locus Model's functional-systems approach to plant biology through the Rapid Trait Development System (RTDS).
Chief Executive Officer at Cibus Global, Ltd.
CEO and Trustee of the Syntax-affiliated ETF trust since 2017.
CEO and Trustee at WEBS ETF Trust (Syntax ETF Trust)
General Partner and co-founder of Scientia Ventures.
Managing Member of Balfour Venture Partners.
Co-founded Royalty Pharma in 1996 with a $60 million start; built it into the world's largest acquirer of pharmaceutical royalties, holding partial royalty rights on seven of the top thirty drugs sold in the United States. Served as Chairman from 2003 and resigned as a director on June 6, 2024.
Chairman and Founder at Royalty Pharma plc
President, CFO, and Director of BioMatrix (NYSE: BMX), overseeing the launch of Synvisc, a viscosupplementation treatment.
President, CFO, and Director at BioMatrix Inc.
CEO of RF&P, a real estate investment company owned by the Virginia State Retirement System.
Chief Executive Officer at RF&P Corporation
Managing Director, Mergers & Acquisitions
Managing Director in the mergers and acquisitions group at PaineWebber.
Managing Director, Mergers & Acquisitions at PaineWebber Inc.
Chair of eReceivables, a healthcare service technology company.
Inventor of the coordinate-based Locus Model and Functional Information System for classifying economic activity by function rather than conventional industry category.
Founded and built Royalty Pharma into the world's largest acquirer of pharmaceutical royalties, helping create the category as an investable asset class.
Precision gene editing / agricultural biotechnology
Led Cibus's application of production-system methodology to plant biology through the Rapid Trait Development System.
Index construction and portfolio classification
Built the Syntax Stratified Indices, benchmark indices constructed on functional rather than conventional sector classification.
Managing Director in M&A at PaineWebber, 1981–1990.
Director of the New York Genome Center, his primary current nonprofit board.
Director of the Feinstein Institute, the research arm of Northwell Health.
Kyntra Bio (formerly known as FibroGen Inc.)
Co-founder and director of FibroGen since October 1993 — his longest confirmed board tenure.
Director of Intra-Cellular Therapies from January 2014, serving on the Audit Committee.
Board Chair and director of GeneNews, later StageZero Life Sciences, since 1998.
Angel investor and board member of the fintech company Bond Street Marketplace.
Founder and Executive Chairman; built the Locus Model, Functional Information System, and Syntax Stratified Indices.
Co-founder and Chairman (2003–2024); built the pharmaceutical royalty asset class.
Co-founder; CEO 2021–2026, then Chairman of the Board.
Co-founder and director since October 1993.
President, CFO, and Director, 1996–2000; oversaw the launch of Synvisc.
Current director of the research arm of Northwell Health.
Managing Director, Mergers & Acquisitions, 1981–1990.
CEO, 1991–1995, a Virginia State Retirement System–owned real estate investment company.
Cibus Appoints Co-Founder Rory Riggs as Chief Executive Officer
Syntax LLC Announces Launch of Stratified LargeCap ESG Index
Cibus Opens Gene Editing Facility for Trait Production
Cibus Named to Fast Company's Annual List of the World's Most Innovative Companies of 2024
Cibus Names Agricultural Biotechnology Leader Craig Wichner as Chief Executive Officer
Royalty Pharma Co-Founder Writes Open Letter to Board of Elan Ahead of EGM
Margaret Crotty and Rory Riggs Health Care Leadership Award, 2024
The personal site of Rory Riggs — inventor of the Locus Model and Functional Coordinates, founder of Systems Economics, and Executive Chairman of Syntax Data. Documents his work across financial classification (FIS, Syntax Stratified Indices), agricultural biotechnology (Cibus, Rapid Trait Development System), and pharmaceutical royalties (Royalty Pharma).
Commentary: Systems Economics — A New Prescription for Risk Management
Systems Economics: A New Prescription for Risk Management
Op-ed authored by Rory Riggs articulating the case for functional, systems-based classification of economic data as an alternative to conventional sector-based risk models.