As a child, Lynn Martin nurtured her love of technology and coding on a Commodore 64 in her parents' home in Smithtown, New York. But it was not until her first job in coding that she felt the pull of Wall Street.
After landing at IBM in 1998, Martin was assigned to write code for a major global bank to measure trade-processing times on the New York Stock Exchange during peak days. The work, coupled with her after-hours pursuit of a master's degree in statistics, set her on the path that led to her current job.
In January, Martin was named president of the NYSE, becoming only the second woman to lead the exchange in its 200-plus years of operation. Martin's background in technology is a key asset as she steers the company through the increasingly digital nature of business and finance.
"The most complex problems of our times are being met with technology-driven solutions, and it's exciting to work with our community of listed companies every day to address these issues with a tech forward, data-driven approach," Martin said.
Martin's route to the top of NYSE Group started in 2001 when she was named a vice president for the derivatives business LIFFE, which became part of the NYSE in 2007 along with its parent, Euronext. When the NYSE was purchased for $8.2 billion in 2013 by the tech and financial services giant Intercontinental Exchange, or ICE, Martin quickly won over the company's leaders. In 2015, ICE named her president of Interactive Data Corp., another company ICE had purchased.
Martin is credited with doubling the company's growth rate after its takeover by ICE and building the subsidiary into what is now ICE's Fixed Income & Data Services segment, which employs about 2,500 people and generated revenue of nearly $1.9 billion in 2021. Her responsibilities there included securities pricing and analytics, desktop solutions, consolidated feeds and connectivity services, among other business lines.
As president of NYSE Group, Martin oversees an exchange that lists 2,400 companies representing a market capitalization of $33 trillion. In addition to the main exchange, she is in charge of four electronic stock exchanges — NYSE Arca for exchange-traded funds, NYSE American, NYSE Chicago and NYSE National — and two options exchanges, NYSE American Options in New York and NYSE Arca Options in San Francisco. She also is chair of the fixed income and data services unit at ICE.
While she is a self-proclaimed data nerd with expertise in the back-office world of technology, Martin does not shy away from the public side of her job. In July, for example, she oversaw the launch of the NYSE Institute, designed to serve as an advocate for U.S. capital markets and NYSE-listed companies.
The institute, headed by NYSE vice chairman John Tuttle, plans to represent the NYSE at global policy gatherings, promote the role of public companies in driving growth and work with leaders in countries looking to develop their economies, markets and sustainability initiatives.
"As the largest stock exchange in the world, we have the unique opportunity and responsibility to advocate for the U.S. capital markets and our NYSE-listed companies," Martin said.
Under Martin's leadership, the NYSE also has launched an advisory council on sustainability to share best practices. "It's exciting to see so many of our listed companies come together to discuss this important issue and, together, identify new ways to address it," she said.
Martin also looks forward to making more progress on diversifying corporate boards, an effort led by the 3-year-old NYSE Board Advisory Council. The council provides a pool of diverse, board-ready candidates for NYSE-listed companies that are seeking new directors.
All NYSE-listed companies on the Russell1000 have at least one woman director and 95% have two or more, Martin said. Nearly nine in 10 (88%,) have at least 20% of their board seats held by women.
"We still have further to go, but we have made tremendous progress in the last two decades and I'm confident we'll continue to see diversity numbers rise in the coming years," Martin said.
Outside of the exchange, Marth is on the board of trustees of Manhattan College, where she earned a bachelor's degree in computer science. She also is on the advisory board for the college's school of science.
