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The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the largest in the world, plays an important role in the U.S. financial system, but also reflects and influences global trends.

The exchange, in which securities are bought and sold, got its start in May 1792 when 24 of New York’s biggest stockbrokers — all men — gathered under a tree in Manhattan to create the city’s first stock exchange.

Today, a woman heads the exchange for the second time in its 232-year history. Lynn Martin held roles at the exchange and its parent company, Intercontinental Exchange Incorporated, before rising to the position of NYSE president.

At one point, while working at NYSE’s listed derivatives business, Martin met Jeff Sprecher, chairman of the exchange. “I remember thinking about how bold and determined she was,” Sprecher says in a company report. “And I liked that about her.”

Martin’s background includes degrees in computer science and statistics before an early job at IBM. “A data scientist by trade and a leader by nature, Lynn Martin has brought innovation and technological expertise to the NYSE, ensuring [it] remains the premier global venue for capital raising,” said Josh King, NYSE spokesman.

With around 2,400 listed companies, the NYSE today is worth $36 trillion, the most of all exchanges in the world. That figure is based on the total market value of stocks traded on the exchange, known as market capitalization.

An estimated 61% of Americans in 2023 said they invested in the market, either through individual stocks, mutual funds, pensions or retirement plans, according to research from polling firm Gallup.

One of a kind

When the New York Stock Exchange was founded, a global community of stock exchanges already existed. The very first stock exchange was founded in Amsterdam in 1602, followed by the London and Frankfurt, Germany, stock exchanges.

The New York Stock Exchange was originally based on the Dutch exchange, said NYSE historian Peter Asch. (Its very location is thanks to the Dutch, who laid out New York streets such that a canal brought goods to market at the corner of Wall and Broad streets. Four hundred years later, the stock exchange at Wall and Broad streets remains a hub for global business activity.)

While the stock exchange in Amsterdam started out dealing in shares of the East India Company, the first products on the New York Stock Exchange were bonds issued by the newly formed U.S. government in order to pay debt accrued in the Revolutionary War.

Although the first U.S. stock exchange was in Philadelphia, the New York Stock Exchange quickly became the most prominent.

“Every city had banks at that time,” Asch said, “but New York very quickly grew to be the biggest banking center in the country. It became a place where, if you wanted to do a big project and you needed funding, we were the place to go.”

Today, the New York Stock Exchange is the only major stock exchange in the world that still has a physical trading floor. “That is really what makes us different, our market model,” Asch said. “NYSE is a community of the world’s greatest companies. They can come here to bring their ideas to the market.”

Since its start, activity on the New York Stock Exchange has been representative of market trends, providing a window into what drives the global economy. In its early years, the NYSE was focused on banking and insurance. By the 1830s, it had pivoted to railroads and operating companies. During the 1900s, car manufacturers arrived on the scene, followed by airplanes, computers, and today, digital-technology companies. According to Asch, the next big innovation can always be found in the listings of the New York Stock Exchange.

This story was written by freelance writer Maeve Allsup. An earlier version published July 10, 2018.