The amazing life and career of Wall Street legend Art Cashin, who turned 75 on Monday
Art Cashin grew up in northern New Jersey, and attended Xavier High School in New York City.
His father passed away a few months before he graduated, so he found a job on The Street to help his mom make ends meet.
He graduated from high school in 1959. In his senior yearbook, where it said what college the student was attending, above Cashin's name is just said "working."
He started on Wall Street as an assistant clerk at Thomson & McKinnon in 1959.
Source: Xavier High School
Cashin almost left Wall Street to become a folk singer.
Cashin was in a folk singing quarter in the 1960s.
The group auditioned with ABC Paramount Records, and it went very well. They were told that if the guy that ABC had just signed didn't end up working out, then they would get to create the next record.
However, that guy that ABC Paramount signed? Ray Charles.
Source: Xavier High School via YouTube
After just five years on The Street, Cashin was made partner at his firm. He was one of the youngest traders ever to earn a seat at the NYSE.
Cashin was made partner at P. R. Herzig & Co. in 1964.
He earned a seat at the NYSE when he was just 23 years old.
Source: Xavier High School
1980, Cashin joined Paine Webber as an institutional floor broker.
Throughout his career, Cashin was involved in a variety of charitable activities. He even created a program to feed hundreds of families during the holidays.
In 1982, Cashin watched a news broadcast from a New York homeless shelter showing a family unable to sit together for dinner due to lack of space.
Afterwards, he and his fellow brokers got together to sponsor about about 400 family turkey dinners cooked by the restaurant at the top of the World Trade Center.
Source: Business Insider
The fund he created in 1982 now feeds hundreds of thousands of people during the holidays.
After delivering the first dinner in 1982, Cashin founded the Exchange Christmas Dinner Fund.
In 2006, the fund fed over 185,000 people.
The fund was awarded special citation by former president Ronald Reagan in 1987.
Source: Xavier High School
Later, after the 9/11 attacks, Cashin worked to help the families of victims.
Cashin chairs the NYSE "Fallen Heroes Fund," which helps the families of NYC police and firemen killed in the line of duty.
After 9/11, the Fallen Heroes Fund provided over $6 million in assistance.
Source: CNBC
Nowadays, Cashin is the director of floor operations at the NYSE for UBS. He is also one of six Executive Floor Governors, the highest level at the NYSE.
He has also served as a Governor, Member of the Market Performance Committee and "has also served on virtually every committee at the NYSE," according to his profile on CNBC.
Source: CNBC
He is also often appears on CNBC, talking to reporters from the floor of the NYSE.
At times, it seems like Cashin is basically a walking stock market encyclopedia, given his 50-plus years of experience.
Source: CNBC
He also has a daily newsletter, Cashin's Comments. It's read by over 100,000 people daily.
He routinely comments on historical events, recalls his own experience during days like Black Monday, and even comes out with a fun, pop-cultured Christmas poem every year.
He's also thrown in some tough brain teasers.
Source: Art Cashin
He's also a member of Mensa, the Bond Club of New York, and the Knights of Malta.
But he still has a sense of humor: here he's rocking some green in honor of St. Patrick's Day.
Source: Xavier High School
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