What is Dick Grasso's Net Worth and Salary?
Dick Grasso is a business executive and investor who has a net worth of $150 million. Dick Grasso served as the chairman and CEO of the New York Stock Exchange from 1995 to 2003. His departure was shrouded with controversy due to his reportedly excessive pay package and $188.5 million golden parachute. However, after the NYSE changed from a non-profit to a for-profit organization, all claims against Grasso were dismissed in 2008 due to the matter being out of the hands of the State of New York.
Early Life and Education
Richard Grasso was born on July 26, 1946 in the Queens borough of New York City. When Grasso was still a baby, his father left the family, and he was subsequently raised by his mother and two aunts. As a teenager, he attended Newtown High School. Grasso went on to attend Pace University for two years before enlisting in the US Army.
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New York Stock Exchange
After leaving the Army in 1968, Grasso became a floor clerk at the New York Stock Exchange. He gradually climbed the ranks over the decades, eventually becoming president of the Exchange and then, in 1995, chairman and CEO. In his position as CEO, Grasso was credited with solidifying the NYSE's status as the premier stock market in the United States. However, he also courted some serious controversy. In the summer of 1999, Reuters reported that Grasso met with the Colombian guerrilla group FARC, which is considered a terrorist organization by the US State Department.
Grasso generated even more controversy in 2003 when it was revealed that he had been given a deferred compensation pay package worth nearly $140 million. To make matters more suspect, the hand-picked compensation committee consisted primarily of representatives from NYSE-listed companies that Grasso had regulatory authority over. Following criticism from SEC chairman William H. Donaldson and several pension-fund heads, Grasso was asked to leave the NYSE board by a vote of 13-7. He assented, and stepped down in September of 2003.
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Compensation Lawsuit
The year after his resignation from the NYSE, Grasso was sued by New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, who demanded that he repay the majority of his $140 million pay package. He responded with a countersuit against the NYSE and its new chairman, John Reed. Grasso also penned a 1,500-word op-ed in the Wall Street Journal detailing the countersuit. In late 2006, the New York State Supreme Court issued a summary decision ordering Grasso to repay a large amount of his excess compensation. In his ruling, Judge Ramos wrote that Grasso's failure to disclose the actual extent of his total compensation prevented the compensation committee from properly performing its fiduciary duties.
On the first of July, 2008, following the NYSE's change from a non-profit to a for-profit organization, the New York State Court of Appeals dismissed all claims against Grasso. The majority opinion declared that since the NYSE was now for-profit, the State of New York had no oversight over the affairs of the company and so the Attorney General no longer had any standing to prosecute Grasso. Ultimately, the court ruled that Grasso was entitled to the whole of his compensation. Attorney General Andrew Cuomo stated that he had no intention to appeal the decision and that the case was effectively over.
Board Appointments
Grasso has served as a member of various boards, including those of the National Italian American Foundation, the Centurian Foundation, and the New York City Police Foundation. He also served as a member of the advisory board of the Yale School of Management.
Real Estate
In 1995 Dick paid $2.2 million for a home set on five acres in Old Brookeville, New York. He sold this home in July 2017 for $2.7 million. In April 2015, Dick listed his 9-acre property in the Hamptons town of Sagaponack for $45 million. He ultimately did not find a buyer and still owns the 7,000-square-foot home today.
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