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News and Press Releases |
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HEADLINE:
NYSE CEO Steps Out Of Shadows, Into The Limelight
By: Javier David - Reuters
Forbes.com. May 27, 2004
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EXCERPT: Since taking over the top job at the New York Stock Exchange in January, Chief Executive John Thain has cultivated a reputation as a subdued technocrat -- a welcome change for many during one of the most turbulent periods in NYSE history. In his initial weeks on the job after the resignation of former CEO and Chairman Richard Grasso amid an uproar over Grasso's $188.5 million pay package, Thain met regularly with reporters but avoided making controversial remarks. However, in a recent series of public appearances and pronouncements, Thain has incrementally raised his profile in a way some analysts say shows his increasing comfort with becoming the new face of American capitalism. With an op-ed piece in Thursday's Wall Street Journal, Thain questioned the costs to U.S. businesses of implementing tougher corporate governance standards. He appeared to be casting off his self-imposed muzzle while sending the public a message: Goodbye Grasso, hello Thain. "He's doing a very good job," said one longtime NYSE veteran who asked not to be identified. This person contrasted Thain's style with the kinetic approach of his larger-than-life predecessor, who was present at virtually every celebrity bell-ringing on the exchange's trading floor. "We have an executive getting to things that are important rather than imagery," this person said. "His piece in the Journal was not about current events, it's about the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. It's real. He's going to talk about things that are important." Others agreed that Thain's published remarks in the Journal were an encouraging sign.
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