Billy Salomon Turns 100 as Flash Trades Replace Handshake
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When William “Billy” Salomon started on Wall Street more than 80 years ago at his family firm, trades were often closed with a gentleman’s clasp. Now, with computers completing transactions in microseconds, he says the industry is worse off.
“A handshake or a thank-you on the telephone was a confirmation of a transaction,” the former head of Salomon Brothers said in an interview this week. “Today you have lightning-fast trading which no one understands. It’s a vast difference. It was more of a gentlemanly game.”