King of the Club: Richard Grasso and the Survival of the New York Stock Exchange

by Charles Gasparino

A Long Way to the Top Rags-to-riches stories abound in American lore, but even Horatio Alger would have been hard-pressed to write one as powerful as Richard Grasso' the son of a working-class family whose childhood dream was to become a cop, he grew up in New York City's outer boroughs, as far removed from the marble halls, expensive suits, and imported cigars of the New York Stock Exchange as if his grandparents had remained in Italy. Here is the riveting story of how the "Little Man in the Dark Suit" rose to become the most influential CEO in the Exchange's history. Minus the tony upbringing, affluent prep schools, or inside connections that were de rigueur for top Wall Street players, Grasso would master the subtle deal-making and politics necessary to succeed in the most competitive business on Earth. The Day the Market Fell The story of September 11, 2001—the shock, panic, resilience, and heroism—is one that's been told many times. But on that day, Richard Grasso faced a challenge no other CEO of the Club had ever how to bring the very heart of global finance back from near-death to functioning operation. Swiftly, completely, and without the public knowing how desperate the struggle really was. He met it with his finest hour, and yet one that sowed the seeds of his own destruction. A Plutocrat's Pay As the Exchange leapt from success to success, and Grasso's reputation, already gold-plated following 9/11, grew with it, the Club's Board of Directors lavishly rewarded him with a pay package that even the CEOs at the world's largest corporations might more than $140 million in deferred compensation. It was a package that, when leaked, brought down a hailstorm of protest; bitter divisions among the most powerful names on Wall Street; an investigation from the "Scourge of Wall Street," then–Attorney General Eliot Spitzer; and Grasso's eventual humiliating downfall. The End of an Era Almost single-handedly, Grasso had kept the famous specialist system, where human traders matched buy and sell orders, front and center at the Club. As competing camps plotted his downfall, the exchange's fate became without Grasso, it might survive and indeed flourish, but the Exchange, the firms that supplied it with business, and the structures underpinning the movement of money around the country and the globe would never be the same.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Biography

400 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Teri Temme · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Loved it. Wall Street has always fascinated me. Extremely interesting and detailed.

[Jason Mesiarik]

Chris recommended this read and I like Charlie's reporting work on CNBC, so I think it'll be a good read.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

King of the Club tells the history of Richard Grasso and the rise and fall of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under one of the most interesting chairman the institution has ever seen. Grasso grew up the quintessential New York story. An immigrant who instead of taking one of the expected patronage jobs found employment at a brokerage firm, learned and scraped through Wall Street eventually worked his way up to Chairman of the Exchange. Grasso was paid huge amounts of money that led to controversy and his downfall at the Exchange. Few books look at this subject matter and show the dark underbelly of the stock trading from specialists systems to the regulatory role the NYSE plays in the markets. Overall this can be described as business smut but it is entertaining and raises great questions about the role of specialists vs consumer trading, the role of regulation and investments and executive compensation in America. For those who are interested in the following you will find this book enlightening and fun.
1. The Exchange and how the stock market evolved in the late 80’s, 1990’s and through the 9/11 era.
2. New York politics and the rise and fall of Elliot Spitzer and Richard Grasso
3. Those interested in financial dramas and the antics they produce.

[Brayden · Rating 3 out of 5]

King of the Club takes the reader into the upper-echelons of the New York Stock Exchange, exploring the career of the NYSE CEO Richard Grasso and elucidating the mistakes he made that led to his eventual downfall. Surprisingly, I found myself feeling somewhat sympathetic to Grasso. He was an ambitious leader, clearly very capable in some ways, but lacking an overall vision and the social skill needed to manage highly volatile political coalitions within the organization. It was this lack of aptitude for dealing with the coalitions that led to his ouster as CEO.

[Keith McGowan · Rating 3 out of 5]

How can a man who worked his way up from the streets of the Big Apple to run the largest stock exchange in the world fall from grace? How can a hero who brought Wall Street back on line after 9/11 become an object of scorn a few years later because of a pay package to which he was legally entitled?

I was hoping for answers to these questions in this book; unfortunately, I did not get them. The book did offer insights into how financial markets operate, but I never understood how a man fell so far (without embezzling millions).

[Lewis de Seife · Rating 4 out of 5]

How Grasso went from 9/11 hero to Wall Street poster boy for greed. Somewhat sympathetic portrayal of Grasso - if he didn't have a tin ear for PR, nobody would have known. Denoument of the story to end of lawsuits leaves you hanging to know final outcome.

[Carissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved it, but probably mainly because I work there and love to learn about all the dirty laundry. It was good to have the whole story in one place. I think it gives a fair assessment of Grasso though

[Larry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hey Sue - I'm only doing this for you. The book is like a very long Wall Street Journal article - but the definitive work on how Dick Grasso earned a $200 million retirement package from New York Stock Exchange. Just my kind of book! (I only give 5-stars to Vince Flynn.)

[Donald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well-written to the point that it kept all the financial details from being too boring, this is an interesting read to a certain extent, that being I had no idea who Richard Grasso was, so I didn't really care, but found myself somewhat intrigued and caring about what happened.

[Citra Cas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, at least, this book give us a different perspective I guess, based on what I heard about this book... ^^