New York Stock Exchange

On May 17, 1792, 24 stockbrokers signed the Buttonwood Agreement, setting rules and commissions for trading among themselves. The brokers gathered to trade under a buttonwood tree on what is now Wall Street.⁠[1][2]

On March 8, 1817, the brokers adopted a constitution creating the New York Stock & Exchange Board, the forerunner of today’s New York Stock Exchange. After the Panic of 1837, the exchange began requiring companies to disclose financial information.⁠[1][2]

The exchange adopted its present name, New York Stock Exchange, in 1863, and in 1865 moved into its first permanent home, on part of its present Broad Street site. From 1868, buying a seat from an existing member became the only way to obtain membership.⁠[2][1]

The stock ticker was introduced in 1867, speeding the spread of market information. In the 1870s continuous trading began, with a bell signaling the open and close, and telephones were installed at the exchange in 1878. On December 15, 1886, daily trading volume exceeded 1 million shares for the first time.⁠[1]

In 1903 the exchange moved into a new building with a much larger trading floor, designed by George B. Post, with pediment statuary by John Quincy AdamsJohn Quincy AdamsJohn Quincy Adams (1767–1848) was an American diplomat and politician who served as secretary of state from 1817 to 1825 and as the sixth President of the United States from 1825 to 1829, and afterwards sat in the House of Representatives until his death.Open the full entry Ward; the gong was replaced by an electrically operated brass bell. The 11 Wall Street addition, completed in 1922, enlarged the trading floor and office space, and the first Christmas tree lighting was held in 1923.⁠[1]

The market crashed on October 29, 1929, when a record of more than 16 million shares changed hands. BritannicaEncyclopædia BritannicaEncyclopædia Britannica is a general English-language encyclopedia first published in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1768; the name also refers to its publisher, Chicago-based Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. (which presents itself as The Britannica Group). The print edition ended in 2012, and the company’s main businesses since then have been the online encyclopedia Britannica.com, digital education products for schools and libraries, and Merriam-Webster dictionaries.Open the full entry describes the crash as signaling the start of the Great Depression; it led to federal investigation, and the exchange came under the regulation of the U.S. Securities and Exchange CommissionU.S. Securities and Exchange CommissionThe U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is the federal securities regulator of the United States. Created during the Great Depression by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and led by five commissioners, it has a three-part mission of protecting investors, maintaining fair, orderly and efficient markets, and facilitating capital formation.Open the full entry, which Congress created in 1934.⁠[1][2]

In 1953 membership was limited to 1,366 seats. Women first worked on the trading floor during World War II. On December 28, 1967, Muriel Siebert became the exchange’s first permanent female member, and on February 12, 1970, Joseph L. Searles III became its first Black member.⁠[2][1]

In 1971 Daniels & Bell and First Harlem Securities became the first Black-owned member firms, and in 1973 Harold Doley became the first Black member to buy a seat with his own funds. Alice Jarcho became the first full-time female floor broker in 1976, and Gail Pankey became the first Black female member in 1985.⁠[1]

The New York Futures Exchange opened in 1980 with 1,569 members, and on February 8 that year the market capitalization of NYSE-listed companies exceeded $1 trillion for the first time. On October 19, 1987, “Black Monday,” the Dow fell 508 points. The exchange’s first one-billion-share trading day came on October 28, 1997.⁠[1]

In 2001 the exchange switched from fractional to decimal pricing. After the terrorist attacks of September 11 that year, the markets reopened on September 17. In 2003 its governance standards began requiring a majority of independent directors on the boards of listed companies.⁠[2][1]

In 2005 the exchange launched the NYSE Hybrid Market, combining floor-based auction and electronic trading, and on November 16 that year Intercontinental Exchange listed on the NYSE. The last seats were sold in December 2005, some for as much as $4 million.⁠[1][2]

In 2006 the New York Stock Exchange, Archipelago (Arca) and the Pacific Exchange (PCX) merged to form the publicly traded NYSE Group, ending ownership by members; open outcry trading was also eliminated that year.⁠[1]

The merger of NYSE Group with Euronext N.V. created the holding company NYSE Euronext, whose shares began trading on April 4, 2007, under the symbol NYX, opening at €75 on Euronext Paris. Jan Michiel Hessels was chairman and John A. Thain chief executive officer of the combined company.⁠[3][2]

In 2008 NYSE Euronext acquired the American Stock ExchangeNYSE AmericanNYSE American, formerly the American Stock Exchange, is a U.S. equities exchange operated by NYSE Group, part of Intercontinental Exchange, with a focus on listings of small and mid-sized companies. It grew out of the outdoor curb market of 19th-century New York, took the name American Stock Exchange in 1953, was acquired by NYSE Euronext in 2008 and announced its present name in 2017.Open the full entry, which was later renamed and is now NYSE American. In 2017 the exchange acquired the National Stock Exchange, based in New JerseyNew JerseyNew Jersey is a state in the eastern United States on the Atlantic Ocean, bordered by New York State, Delaware, and Pennsylvania, with the Hudson River forming its northeastern boundary and the Delaware River its western boundary; its capital is Trenton and its largest city is Newark. One of the original 13 colonies, it became the third state to ratify the U.S. Constitution on December 18, 1787, and its population in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020) was 9,288,994.Open the full entry.⁠[2][1]

The exchange completed phase 1 of its Pillar trading platform in 2016 and finished migrating its trading technology to NYSE Pillar in 2019.⁠[1]

On November 13, 2013, Intercontinental Exchange announced that it had completed its acquisition of NYSE Euronext in a stock-and-cash transaction valued at about $11 billion, creating a company with a market capitalization of $23 billion that operated 16 exchanges and five central clearing houses. Jeffrey SprecherJeffrey SprecherJeffrey Sprecher is an American businessman who founded Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) in 2000 and has long served as its chair and chief executive officer. ICE acquired NYSE Euronext, parent of the New York Stock Exchange, in 2013, and he chaired the New York Stock Exchange from 2013 to 2021.Open the full entry became chairman and chief executive officer of the combined group, Duncan L. Niederauer became president of Intercontinental Exchange and chief executive officer of the New York Stock Exchange, and Thomas W. Farley became the exchange’s chief operating officer; the NYSE brand and the 11 Wall Street building and trading floor were preserved.⁠[4]

Intercontinental Exchange planned an initial public offering of Euronext in 2014, with Dominique Cerutti, formerly deputy CEO of NYSE Euronext, named Euronext’s chief executive. Britannica records that Intercontinental Exchange later sold Euronext and kept the NYSE. Sprecher served as chair of the New York Stock Exchange from 2013 to 2021.⁠[4][2][5]

In 2018 Stacey Cunningham became the 67th president and the first woman to lead the New York Stock Exchange. On March 23, 2020, the exchange operated without a trading floor for the first time in its history; the floor partially reopened on May 26, 2020.⁠[1]

On December 6, 2021, Intercontinental Exchange announced that Cunningham would step down as president and join the NYSE board, to be succeeded by Lynn Martin, then president of ICE Fixed Income and Data Services, who would remain chair of that business; Sharon Bowen, an NYSE board member and former commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading CommissionCommodity Futures Trading CommissionThe U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is an independent federal agency created by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission Act of 1974 and operating since 1975 to regulate futures, options and swaps markets; it has treated bitcoin and other virtual currencies as commodities since 2015 and has been chaired since December 22, 2025 by Michael Selig.Open the full entry, was to become chair of the NYSE. The exchange describes Martin as its 68th president and second female president.⁠[6][1]

As of November 2026, Intercontinental Exchange remains the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange. Its executive management page lists Lynn Martin as President, NYSE Group, and Chair, ICE Fixed Income & Data Services; Jeffrey Sprecher as Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Intercontinental Exchange; and Bryan Daniel as President, NYSE Texas.⁠[5][1]

The NYSE, NYSE American Equities, NYSE Arca Equities, NYSE National and NYSE Texas markets have all been migrated to NYSE Pillar matching engines.⁠[1]

New York Stock Exchange: Official website: https://www.nyse.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[1]

Intercontinental Exchange: Official website: https://ir.theice.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[5]

X: Public account: https://x.com/nyse (opens in a new window).⁠[1]

LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry: Public profile: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nyse (opens in a new window).⁠[1]

YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is Google’s video-sharing and creator platform, founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim and acquired by Google in 2006. Built around video uploading, viewing, and creator earnings, the platform has developed Shorts, YouTube Music, Premium, YouTube TV, and products for children, and is headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States.Open the full entry: Public channel: https://www.youtube.com/@NYSEofficial (opens in a new window).⁠[1]