19 Facts About Richard Grasso

1.

Richard Grasso started in 1968 when he was hired by the Exchange as a floor clerk.

2.

Richard Grasso later became embroiled in controversies and lawsuits about his allegedly excessive pay package and $188.5 million golden parachute.

3.

Richard Grasso was raised by his mother and two aunts in Jackson Heights in New York City.

4.

Richard Grasso's father left the family when Richard was an infant.

5.

Richard Grasso graduated from Newtown High School in Queens and attended Pace University for two years before enlisting in the Army.

6.

Two weeks after leaving the Army in 1968, Richard Grasso became a clerk at the New York Stock Exchange.

7.

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

8.

Richard Grasso served as an advisory board member for Yale School of Management.

9.

The article quoted Richard Grasso as saying, "I invite members of the FARC to visit the New York Stock Exchange so that they can get to know the market personally".

10.

Richard Grasso told reporters that he was bringing "a message of cooperation from US financial services".

11.

Richard Grasso stepped down on September 17,2003, and several senior officials followed in the same month.

12.

On May 24,2004, Richard Grasso was sued by New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer demanding repayment of the majority of the $140 million pay package.

13.

On May 26,2004, Richard Grasso responded with a counter-suit against the Exchange and its chairman John Reed.

14.

Richard Grasso went on to place a 1,500-word op-ed article in the Wall Street Journal detailing this counter-suit as well as his grievances against Spitzer.

15.

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

16.

On October 19,2006, it was reported that the New York State Supreme Court issued a summary decision ordering Richard Grasso to repay a significant amount of excess compensation in an article entitled "Ex-NYSE chief ordered to return part of $188M".

17.

The court ruled that Richard Grasso was entitled to the entirety of his compensation.

18.

The suit against Richard Grasso came under criticism, with journalist Charles Gasparino lambasting it in the epilogue to his book, Blood on the Street.

19.

Richard Grasso is the subject of a book by Gasparino, King of the Club.