CBOE Origin Remembrances: Joe Sullivan

By Lawrence G. McMillan

The CBOE’s first President, Joe Sullivan, was “everything” to the creation of the CBOE. In this article, written by Joe himself, the inner workings of politics – both in Washington and in Chicago – exchanges, and traders, all combined to make for a very interesting four years of legwork needed to start the CBOE. Joe did a tremendous amount of soothing, cajoling, and arm-twisting (I’m sure) to get the CBOE off the ground. He served as the inaugural president of the CBOE from its founding in 1973 until 1979.

Unfortunately, Joe passed away on Oct. 2, 2020 at the age of 82. But his work lives on.

This article not only takes you through the initial startup nightmares in dealing with the SEC and various politicians, but later describes how the other exchanges came to be (along with dual listings), how the Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) was created, and eventually how the industry managed to survive a virtual shut-down by the SEC.

This following article was posted to the SEC Historical website in 2019.

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