Reply #2: America needs a big house-cleaning [View All]

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NYSE Chief Richard Grasso: Who Is He, Really?

This next item almost got past the goalie here...

John Crudelle, in the New York Post on Tuesday, reported some very interesting shenanigans regarding the "Who's Who" biography of New York Stock Exchange boss Richard Grasso.

Here are some choice excerpts from Crudelle's report:

THE education information for Richard Grasso, the head of the New York Stock Exchange, was inaccurate for nearly 10 years in "Who's Who." His bio is missing altogether from the 57th edition of the prestigious publication that was put out last fall.
"Who's Who" says it generally gets its information from the people themselves, their companies or representatives.

The NYSE says it was the publisher, not it, that mistakenly gave Grasso a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from Pace University that he didn't have.

Pace confirms that Grasso completed 80 credits toward the 120-credit undergraduate degree before its records show he "transferred."

...That same error is contained in biographical information carried by Bloomberg, which not only says Grasso has a "bachelors degree" from Pace but also mentions "Harvard Univ., 1985" on his education page. (I'll get to that in a minute.)

Grasso's biography suddenly disappeared from the latest edition of Marquis "Who's Who" after someone engaged in a lawsuit with the exchange says he tipped off the book's publishers that Grasso doesn't have a B.S. from Pace or anywhere else.

...Ray Pellecchia, a spokesman for the exchange, in an e-mail... said, "Maybe they got wrong that he later received an honorary degree from Pace ? Our bio, which is posted on NYSE.com, of course, does not claim a B.S.," nor has it ever, Pellecchia added...

But Grasso received his honorary degree from Pace in 1995. So it's tough to see how "Who's Who" could have mixed up that education information in its 1992 book with something that didn't happen for another three years.

Richard Grasso with the FARC

Big Left Outside doesn't fully understand how Richard Grasso behaves or doesn't, but we know he's an important guy, upon whose decisions economies and wars rise and fall.

But we do believe this 1999 photo of him hugging a comandante of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (the FARC) is accurate.

To understand the role of narco-dollars on Wall Street, we recommend Catherine Austin Fitts' three-part series: Narco Dollars for Beginners, which discusses Mr. Grasso's Colombian outing in greater detail. http://www.narconews.com/narcodollars1.html

http://www.bigleftoutside.com/archives/000063.php

Mr. Grasso serves on the board of directors of The Home Depot Inc.
http://www.nyse.com/about/p1020656067652.html?displayPage=%2Fabout%2F1022221392205.html

Mr. Grasso serves on the board of directors of Computer Associates International Inc., and as vice chairman of the National Italian American Foundation. He also serves as a trustee of the Centurion Foundation, the New York City Police Foundation, the Trooper Foundation for the State of New York, and as a member of the New York City Public Private Initiatives Inc. He serves as chairman of the Economic Club of New York, as a member of the Yale School of Management advisory board, as a member of the Baruch College School of Business Advisory Council, as a member of the New York University Stern School of Business Board of Overseers, as a trustee of the Stony Brook Foundation, as a member of the National Advisory Board of the Leon and Sylvia Panetta Institute for Public Policy, and as a member of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's International Capital Markets Advisory Committee. He is also a former chairman of Junior Achievement of New York and a former chairman of the YMCA of Greater New York.

Mr. Grasso has received an honorary Doctor of Laws degrees from Fordham University School of Law, Pepperdine University, Graziadio School of Business and La Salle University, and an honorary Doctor of Commercial Science degree from New York University and from Pace University.

He served in the U.S. Army from 1966-1968.
http://www.stern.nyu.edu/lectures/ceo/ceos/grasso.html

Appointed by Guilliani

Became Chairman of the New York Stock Exchange in 1995.

Leveraged the largest economic development subsidy in New York State's history (over $1.1 billion in city and state funds) by threatening to move the Exchange to Jersey City in 1998.

Contributed $5,000 to Pataki's campaign.
http://www.commoncause.org/youth/ny/rebuilding/grasso.htm