TL;DR
Pirates Dividing Gold: A canonical quantitative trading interview question at intermediate difficulty. Commonly asked at Jane Street, Citadel, SIG, Optiver.
By Valenke Exam Prep Team·Last updated 2026-06-01
intermediateClever Arguments
Pirates Dividing Gold
Asked at: Jane Street, Citadel, SIG, Optiver
Problem
Five pirates must divide 100 gold coins. They vote in order of seniority: Pirate 5 proposes a split. If a majority accepts (≥ 3 votes including the proposer), the split is enacted. Otherwise Pirate 5 is thrown overboard and Pirate 4 proposes, and so on. Pirates are rational, greedy, and prefer survival. What does Pirate 5 propose?
Related concepts
Ready to practice for the Valenke Finance Exam?
Adaptive practice powered by Item Response Theory targets your weak areas. Start with 3 free sessions.
Start free practice →