From El Paso to New York: The Formative Years
Enrique Javier Loya was born on February 2, 1969, in El Paso, Texas, to Ana and Miguel Loya. He was the second-youngest of seven children in a family that deeply valued education and hard work. His father, Miguel, was born in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, and immigrated to the United States, where he worked at a clothing manufacturing plant, rising from a truck loader to a plant supervisor over 34 years. Despite having only an eighth-grade education, Miguel Loya was well-read and, alongside his wife, instilled in their children the conviction that education was the key to opportunity.
The Loya household was a tight-knit unit. Javier fondly recalls six o’clock dinners where the entire family would discuss what they had learned in school that day. This tradition not only emphasized the importance of education but also nurtured a healthy sense of competition among the siblings. Javier often jokes that he is the “fourth most successful” person in his family, an anecdote that hints at the high-achieving environment in which he was raised. His oldest brother, Mike, for instance, earned an MBA from Harvard and founded Vitol, a highly successful energy company.
Sports, particularly football, were a year-round presence in the Loya home. As a quarterback at W.H. Burges High School, Loya was recruited by several schools. However, inspired by the opportunities his brother Mike found in the Ivy League, he made the pivotal decision to attend Columbia University, where he could both pursue a top-tier education and play football. This choice marked the beginning of a significant transition, taking him from the border community of El Paso to the bustling metropolis of New York City.
Columbia University: Where Discipline Was Forged
At Columbia, Loya played for the Lions as a linebacker and defensive end. His time on the field was not just about sports; it was where he learned critical life lessons. One of his most memorable games was on October 10, 1988, when Columbia broke a five-year losing streak against Princeton. Loya contributed two sacks and eight tackles to that historic victory, but he also learned a lesson in humility and not taking small victories for granted. He was a varsity letterman in all three of his varsity seasons and was named an Honorable Mention All-Ivy League Selection in 1990.
As a political science major, Loya was deeply influenced by his professors, including Roger Hilsman, who had been instrumental in the Kennedy Administration. This exposure to “real movers and shakers” who were also “real people” demystified success and made him believe that he, too, could achieve great things. His experience at Columbia also shaped his views on meritocracy and ethnicity; as one of the few Mexican-American students, he saw himself first and foremost as a football player, judged on his athletic ability above all else.
The Pivot: From Politics to Commodities
Loya’s path into the world of commodities was as unexpected as it was fortuitous. Through a connection of his brother Mike, he landed an internship at Amerada Hess, a commodity brokerage firm. His first impression of the trading floor was one of controlled chaos—”a bunch of young people screaming and yelling [into phones]. When the market closed, they all jumped into their Ferraris and Porsches”.
Initially overwhelmed, Loya’s internship involved menial tasks like picking up dry cleaning. However, history intervened when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, causing oil prices to skyrocket and the brokerage business to boom. His boss offered him a full-time position. Despite being just a semester away from graduating, Loya was swayed by the lucrative offer. He worked with his professors to complete his degree while starting his career, and he has been a commodities broker ever since.
Building an Empire: From Choice Energy to OTC Global Holdings
Loya’s entrepreneurial spirit soon took over. In 1994, he co-founded Choice Energy LP, an energy brokerage firm specializing in natural gas. The early 2000s brought intense competition, notably from Enron, which discouraged his partners. Seizing the opportunity, Loya bought out their equity in 2000 and pursued an aggressive growth strategy.
This ambition culminated in 2007 with the co-founding of OTC Global Holdings (OTCGH). Loya didn’t just grow the company; he transformed it. He rebranded and expanded its portfolio beyond energy to include agricultural products and metals, transforming OTCGH from a single office with a handful of employees into the world’s largest independent interdealer broker. Under his leadership, the company grew to over 350 employees and 200 brokers, with offices in Houston, New York, London, Singapore, and Geneva.
A key to OTCGH’s success was its embrace of innovation. The company developed EOXLive, the first hybrid voice/electronic platform for brokered commodity markets, which provided a significant competitive edge. This move showcased Loya’s forward-thinking approach, seamlessly blending traditional brokerage with cutting-edge technology.
In April 2025, Loya’s journey with OTCGH reached a monumental milestone when the company was acquired by the BGC Group for $325 million. This acquisition validated Loya’s vision and execution over nearly two decades, cementing his legacy as a builder of market-leading enterprises.
A Lasting Legacy in Sports and Community
Loya’s passion for football has been a constant thread throughout his life, and it has manifested in profound ways beyond the field at Columbia.
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Groundbreaking NFL Ownership: In 2002, Loya became the first Hispanic owner in the history of the NFL after purchasing a minority stake in the Houston Texans. He was brought into the franchise’s founding ownership group to help ensure the team reflected Houston’s diverse community. He has since been a proponent of the Rooney Rule and involved in efforts to increase minority representation in NFL front offices and coaching staffs.
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Expanding into Rugby: Demonstrating his continued interest in sports, Loya recently took on an ownership role with the Houston SaberCats, a professional rugby team in Major League Rugby.
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Philanthropic Impact through Sports: His commitment extends beyond ownership. Loya is a sponsor and board member of the Greater Houston Senior Football Showcase, a charitable organization that has generated over $100 million in scholarships for more than 4,000 high school athletes since 2008. In 2011, he founded the Greater El Paso Football Showcase Combine, which has provided over $9 million in scholarships.
The Next Chapter: GETCHOICE! and a Focus on Culture
With the sale of OTCGH, Loya has turned his full attention to his role as Chairman of GETCHOICE!, a technology company he founded in 2015 that serves the utilities industry. The company is a nationwide platform that helps businesses optimize their energy, telecom, and utility management through technology-driven solutions. His vision is to revolutionize how companies manage their utility bills and energy needs, empowering them to make smarter, more sustainable decisions.
Having led a company through rapid global expansion, Loya now places a strong emphasis on “cultural architecture”—the deliberate design of a company’s values as carefully as its technology. He believes that in an era of remote work and global teams, the biggest challenge is not logistics but maintaining a company’s core identity. “You cannot outsource your identity,” Loya says. “If your people do not know what you stand for, it does not matter how many markets you enter”.
A Commitment to Giving Back
Philanthropy has been a cornerstone of Loya’s life for decades. Together with his wife, Lucinda Vincent-Loya, a prominent interior designer in Houston, he has been a long-time contributor to charities supporting children, education, and the arts. He has served as creative co-chair for the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston’s gala and as dinner chair for the Communities In Schools of Houston “Stay in School” gala. Loya also has a personal connection to the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), an organization that helped his father regain a job after an unjust firing, and he has made significant donations to support its mission.
Conclusion: The Unbroken Thread of Resilience
From the gridiron of Columbia University to the pinnacle of global commodities trading and the elite circles of professional sports ownership, Javier Loya’s journey is a testament to the power of resilience, authenticity, and strategic vision. His story is not simply one of personal success but a blueprint for how to navigate change, build lasting enterprises, and leverage influence for community good. As he embarks on his next chapter with GETCHOICE!, the principles that have guided him—discipline learned on the football field, a commitment to innovation, and a focus on building strong cultures—ensure that his impact will continue to be felt across industries and communities for years to come. Javier Loya’s life and career embody a powerful truth: with resilience and authenticity, the journey itself becomes the destination.
