Richard Grasso

Richard A. Grasso (born 1946 in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York City) usually known by the nickname 'Dick', was chairman and chief executive of the New York Stock Exchange from 1995 to 2003, the culmination of a career that began in 1968 when Grasso was hired by the Exchange as a floor clerk. After the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks, Grasso became the reassuring public face of the Exchange, and was praised for his role in helping restart operations. Image File history File links Richard_grasso. ... Jackson Heights is a neighborhood in northern Queens, New York. ... Queens Borough in New York City, in yellow Queens is one of the five boroughs of New York City, USA. Geographically the largest borough in the city, Queens is home to many immigrants and two of New Yorks major airports. ... Nickname: Big Apple, Gotham, NYC, City That Never Sleeps, The Concrete Jungle, The City So Nice They Named It Twice Location in the state of New York Coordinates: Country United States State New York Boroughs The Bronx Brooklyn Manhattan Queens Staten Island Settled 1676 Government  - Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) Area... The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), nicknamed the Big Board, is a New York City-based stock exchange privately-owned by the NYSE Group (NYX). ... The World Trade Center on fire The September 11, 2001 attacks were a series of coordinated terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001. ...

Youth

Grasso was raised by his mother and two aunts in Jackson Heights in New York City ^[1] since his father left the family when Richard was an infant. He graduated from Newtown High School, and attended Pace University for two years before enlisting in the Army. Just two weeks after leaving the Army in 1968, Grasso became a clerk at the New York Stock Exchange. Newtown High School in Elmhurst, New York is nestled among densely packed private houses. ... Pace University See also: Pace University High School Pace University is a private, co-educational and comprehensive multi-campus university with campuses in New York City and Westchester County in the U.S. State of New York. ... The United States Army is one of the armed forces of the United States and has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. ...

Grasso moved up rapidly in the ranks, becoming president of the exchange and then CEO in the early 1990s.

As CEO, he was widely credited with firming the NYSE's position as the preeminent U.S. stock market.

FARC controversy

On June 26, 1999, Reuters reported that Grasso met with Colombian rebels, the FARC, in an article entitled "NYSE Chief Meets Top Colombia Rebel Leader". The FARC is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department (on its list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations) and is alledgedly responsible for kidnappings and narcotics trafficking in order to bankroll their revolutionary activities (see: narcoterrorism). Reuters Group plc (LSE: RTR and NASDAQ: RTRSY); pron. ... The Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia–Ejército del Pueblo or FARC-EP (Spanish for Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia–Peoples Army) is Colombias oldest and largest guerrilla group, established in 1964-1966 as the military wing of the Colombian Communist Party. ... ... The United States Department of State, often referred to as the State Department, is the Cabinet-level foreign affairs agency of the United States government, equivalent to foreign ministries in other countries. ... The U.S. State Departments list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations is a list of non-US organizations that are designated as terrorist by the United States Secretary of State in accordance with section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). ... The term narcotic, derived from the Greek word for stupor, originally referred to a variety of substances that induced sleep (such state is narcosis). ... Narcoterrorism is a term coined by former President Belaunde Terry of Peru in 1983 when describing terrorist-type attacks against his nations anti-narcotics police. ...

The article quotes Grasso, "I invite members of the FARC to visit the New York Stock Exchange so that they can get to know the market personally." Some find the meeting inexplicable, considering that the FARC has anti-capitalist ideals and has no officially recognized financial clout. Grasso told reporters that he was bringing "a message of cooperation from U.S. financial services."^[2] An anti-capitalist poster printed by the Industrial Workers of the World in 1911. ...

NYSE compensation controversy

On 27 August 2003, it was revealed that Grasso had been given a deferred compensation pay package worth almost $140 million. This caused immediate controversy, as the hand-picked compensation committee consisted mainly of representatives from NYSE-listed companies over which Grasso had regulatory authority as head of the Exchange. August 27 is the 239th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (240th in leap years), with 126 days remaining. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Following criticism of the deal from U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission chairman William H. Donaldson and several pension fund heads (who control some of the largest pools of equity investment capital in the U.S.), the Exchange board met and in 13 to 7 vote asked Grasso to leave. Grasso stepped down on 17 September 2003. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, commonly referred to as the SEC, is the United States governing body which has primary responsibility for overseeing the regulation of the securities industry. ... William H. Donaldson William H. Donaldson is currently chairman of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). ... Ownership equity, commonly known simply as equity, also risk or liable capital, is a financial term for the difference between a companys assets and liabilities -- that is, the value that accrues to the owners (sole proprietor, partners, or shareholders). ... September 17 is the 260th day of the year (261st in leap years). ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

On 24 May 2004, Grasso was sued by New York state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, demanding repayment of the majority of a nearly $140 million pay package. Prior to being dismissed, Grasso had been in line to receive an additional $48 million over the 139.5 million he had already received; he was not paid the additional funds. Grasso has sued to gain those funds. According to the suit, Grasso, along with former NYSE director Kenneth Langone, misled the NYSE board about the details of his pay package, beyond that of comparable chief executives. The NYSE was a non-profit institution during Grasso's reign, and as such was governed by State of New York rules governing executive compensation for non-profits. That the NYSE was a non-profit, goes to the heart of Grasso's compensation, as for-profit companies have traditionally received much greater leeway in executive compensation matters, even when the compensation might appear to be excessive to stockholders. In addition, there were issues of premature withdrawals of Grasso's retirement compensation. Retirement packages often have strict timetables as to when withdrawals can be made. May 24 is the 144th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (145th in leap years). ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Eliot Laurence Spitzer (born June 10, 1959) is an American lawyer, politician and the current Governor of New York. ... Kenneth Langone, co-founder of Home Depot, is a former director of the New York Stock Exchange. ...

On May 26, Grasso responded with a countersuit against the Exchange and its current chairman, John Reed, seeking payment of unpaid portions of his pay package, as well "besmirching his name". Grasso went on to place a 1500-word editorial article in the Wall Street Journal, detailing this countersuit, as well as his grievances against Spitzer. May 26 is the 146th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (147th in leap years). ... John Shepard Reed is the Chairman of the New York Stock Exchange. ... Look up editorial, op-ed in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Wall Street Journal is an influential international daily newspaper published in New York City, New York with an average daily circulation of 1,800,607 (2002). ...

The lawsuit against Grasso continued to move toward trial in 2006, with neither side showing any interest in settling.

On October 19th, CNNMoney.com reported that the New York State Supreme Court issued a summary decision ordering Grasso to repay a significant amount in excess compensation in an article entitled "Ex-NYSE chief ordered to return part of $188M" [1]. Although Grasso will appeal, the same article reports that Spitzer's office has disclosed the amount of restitution is in the tens of millions of dollars. In his ruling, Judge Ramos wrote that Grasso's failure to disclose the true extent of his total compensation prevented the compensation committee from exercising its fiduciary duties. The above CNN article also reported that Grasso's counterclaim of defamation was dismissed.

The Grasso suit has come under criticism from some commentators, with journalist Charles Gasparino lambasting it in his book Blood on the Street. Journalist and author Gary Weiss, in his critical 2006 book Wall Street Versus America, contends that Grasso earned his pay by preserving the NYSE's floor-trading model despite its obsolescence. Weiss argued that Grasso was fairly paid because he kept "alive, and thriving, an institution that should have been dead and interred in a marble crypt a long time ago." Gary Weiss is an award-winning investigative journalist and author of Born to Steal and Both books are harshly critical humorous examinations of the ethics and morality of Wall Street, often tinged with humor. ...

References

1. ^ Thor Valdmanis. "NYSE faces Thursday without Richard Grasso", USA Today, September 18, 2003. Retrieved on 2006-06-16.
2. ^ "NYSE Chief Meets Top Colombia Rebel Leader", Reuters, 1999-06-26. Retrieved on 2006-02-27.

• Ackman, Dan. "Dick Grasso And The Company He Keeps", Forbes, May 7, 2003.
• Weiss, Gary. "The $140,000,000 Man", BusinessWeek, September 15, 2003.
• White, Ben. "NYSE Ousts Grasso as Chairman: Size of Pay Package Drew Wide Criticism", The Washington Post, September 18, 2003, p. A01.
• Surowiecki, James (2004). The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many Are Smarter Than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies and Nations. Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-50386-5. 
• Albrecht, Karl (2005). Social Intelligence: The New Science of Success, Economies, Societies and Nations. Pfeiffer Publishing. ISBN 0-7879-7938-4. 

USA Today is a national American newspaper published by the Gannett Corporation. ... September 18 is the 261st day of the year (262nd in leap years). ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... June 16 is the 167th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (168th in leap years), with 198 days remaining. ... Reuters Group plc (LSE: RTR and NASDAQ: RTRSY); pron. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... June 26 is the 177th day of the year (178th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 188 days remaining. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... February 27 is the 58th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Dan Ackman is an American journalist and civil rights lawyer. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Gary Weiss is an award-winning investigative journalist and author of Born to Steal and Both books are harshly critical humorous examinations of the ethics and morality of Wall Street, often tinged with humor. ... BusinessWeek is a business magazine published by McGraw-Hill. ... The Washington Post is the largest newspaper in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. ... James Surowiecki (born 1967) is a staff writer at The New Yorker magazine, where he writes a regular column on business. ... The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many Are Smarter Than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies and Nations, first published in 2004, is a book written by James Surowiecki about the aggregation of information in groups, resulting in decisions that, he argues, are often better than... Doubleday is one of the largest book publishing companies in the world. ...

External links

• About.com: Comparing Richard Grasso's Compensation
• newsmeat.com: Richard Grasso's federal campaign contributions
• Richard Grasso at the Internet Movie Database
• Richard Grasso at the Notable Names Database