Duncan on NBR tonight

By: Ray Pellecchia

File Under: Miscellaneous

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Our CEO Duncan Niederauer was just interviewed on PBS's Nightly Business Report. Sorry for the lack of notice; I knew it was coming but got the date wrong.

NBR co-anchor blogged about the interview here. She says: "The word 'authentic' has been overused lately. But it’s about the best word I can come up with to describe the CEO of the New York Stock Exchange who I interviewed for the first time today." Excerpt:

Niederauer talks and acts like a stock trader. His style is breezy and friendly. Minutes after I shook his hand, we were already talking about his years at Goldman Sachs, his three kids, and why he’s a fan of the Cleveland Indians (His mother is from Brooklyn and doesn’t like the Yankees, forcing him to pick any other team to root for. He was attracted to the underdog Indians.) He’s starkly different from Thain, who is reserved and formal. I found it revealing that Niederauer chose not move into the grand office that Thain occupied -- with a combination of antique English furniture and a stock ticker -- preferring a more modest space down the hall.

Before and during the interview, Niederauer spoke candidly and directly. It’s refreshing to talk to a CEO who’s unscripted and unrehearsed. He says what he thinks. He even told me that he got in trouble recently for being too candid. At a gathering in Washington DC on the same day that the Federal Reserve slashed interest rates by three-quarters of a percent, Niederauer commented that a half percent cut would have done the job. Well, his off the cuff remark was widely quoted, and he was criticized. His comments were considered inappropriate because he is not an economist. Niederauer told me he’s more careful about what he says now. I just hope he won’t get too careful. It will be a shame if he becomes predictable and programmed like so many American CEOs.

I think I can speak for many who work with Duncan when I say: Predictable and programmed? Rest easy, Susie, not much chance of that happening.

Hey, but Cleveland? I mean, Cleveland? After the Joba playoff game last year, that one bugs this ol' Yankee fan. Oh well. Guess you have to respect anyone in New York who roots for the Indians and admits it.

Will add to this post a link to the interview when NBR puts one up, which I understand will be around 9ish tonight.
UPDATE: Here's the link to the video. Click on "Tonight's Program." The interview begins 6 minutes into the program.