Mr. Rappaport has been a member of the Exchange since 1981 and a member of the board of directors since 1986. He served as vice chairman from 1992 until 1993, when he was elected chairman. He is currently the longest standing chairman of any U.S. exchange.
Among his accomplishments, Mr. Rappaport headed the negotiations which led to Exchange's merger with the Commodity Exchange, Inc., and the support by New York City and State that enabled the Exchange to remain in New York City. He directly oversaw the construction of and relocation to the Exchange's state-of-the art facility in the World Financial Center. Most recently, he spearheaded the Exchange's restructuring to a for-profit entity from a membership structure.
Under his direction, Exchange volume more than doubled, from 47,212,417 futures and options contracts traded in 1992 to 104,075,238 contracts traded in 2000. NYMEX Division seat values increased from $260,000 in March 1993 (when Mr. Rappaport was first elected chairman) to $700,000 at its most recent sale, reaching a record of $725,000 in 2000.
Mr. Rappaport said, "I am very proud of what we accomplished during my tenure as chairman and I am confident that the Exchange is strategically well positioned to confront the challenges and capitalize on the opportunities presented by the new e-commerce marketplace."
Mr. Rappaport is a member of the National Petroleum Council and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission global markets advisory committee. He is a graduate of New York Law School and is licensed to practice in the State of New York. In addition, he holds a master of business administration in taxation from Baruch College and a bachelor of science in public accounting from Syracuse University. Prior to joining the Exchange, Mr. Rappaport worked for a law firm engaged in the practice of general corporate law.
