investment services founded 1945 headquarters new york city new york u.s. key people howard w. lutnick chairman & ceo 1 stuart fraser vice chairman 2 shawn matthews ceo cantor fitzgerald & co. 3 products financial services investment banking website cantor.com cantor fitzgerald l.p. is a financial services firm that was founded in 1945 . it specializes in institutional equity fixed income sales and trading and serving the middle market with investment banking services prime brokerage and commercial real estate financing . the firm is also active in new businesses including advisory and asset management services gaming technology e commerce and other ventures . it has more than 5 000 institutional clients . cantor fitzgerald & co. is one of 22 primary dealers authorized to trade u.s. government securities with the federal reserve bank of new york . cantor fitzgerald s 1 600 employees work in over 30 locations including financial centers in the americas europe asia pacific and the middle east . together with affiliates cantor operates in over 60 offices in 20 countries and has over 8 500 employees . in 2011 cantor s affiliate bgc partners expanded into commercial real estate services through its purchase of newmark knight frank and the assets of grubb & ellis to form newmark grubb knight frank . contents 1 history 2 september 11 attacks 3 philanthropy 4 subsidiaries and affiliates 5 management and directors 6 critical review 7 references 8 external links history edit cantor fitzgerald was formed in 1945 by bernard gerald cantor and john fitzgerald as an investment bank and brokerage business . it later became known for its computer based bond brokerage the quality of its institutional distribution business model and as the market s premier dealer of government securities . 4 in 1965 cantor fitzgerald began large block sales trading of equities for institutional customers . it became the world s first electronic marketplace for u.s. government securities in 1972 and it was the first to offer worldwide screen brokerage services in u.s. government securities in 1983 . in 1991 howard lutnick was named president & ceo of cantor fitzgerald and chairman in cantor fitzgerald l.p. in 1996 . 5 on september 11 2001 the firm lost 658 of its 960 new york employees in the world trade center attacks . since 9 11 the firm worked to rebuild and establish a new global headquarters in manhattan . two years after 9 11 it launched its fixed income sales and trading group . in 2006 the u.s. federal reserve added cantor fitzgerald & co. to its primary dealer list . in 2009 the firm launched cantor prime services a provider of multi asset prime brokerage platform exploiting its clearing financing and execution capabilities . cantor fitzgerald began building its real estate business with the launch of ccre in 2010 . on december 5 2014 two cantor fitzgerald analysts were said to be in the top 25 analysts on tipranks . 6 september 11 attacks edit one world trade center the building with the antenna to the left included the corporate headquarters of cantor fitzgerald . cantor fitzgerald s corporate headquarters and new york city office 7 8 on the 101st 105th floors of one world trade center in lower manhattan 2 6 floors above the impact zone of a hijacked airliner were destroyed during the september 11 2001 attacks . at 8 46 46 a.m. six seconds after cantor s tower was struck by the plane a goldman sachs server issued an alert saying that its trading system had gone offline because it wasn t able to connect with a cantor server . 9 10 11 cantor fitzgerald lost over two thirds of its workforce considerably more than any of the other world trade center tenants or the new york city police department the port authority of new york and new jersey police department the new york city fire department and the united states department of defense . ceo and chairman howard lutnick whose brother was among those killed vowed to keep the company alive and the company was able to bring its trading markets back online within a week . on september 19 cantor fitzgerald made a pledge to distribute 25 percent of the firm s profits for the next five years and committed to paying for ten years of health care for the benefit of the families of its 658 former cantor fitzgerald espeed and tradespark employees profits which would otherwise have been distributed to the cantor fitzgerald partners . 12 in 2006 the company completed its promise having paid a total of 180 million 12 and an additional 17 million from a relief fund run by lutnick s sister edie . 13 before the attacks cantor handled about one quarter of the daily transactions in the multi trillion dollar treasury security market . cantor has since rebuilt its infrastructure thanks in part to the efforts of its london office 14 and now has its headquarters in midtown manhattan . the company s effort to regain its footing is the subject of tom barbash s 2003 book on top of the world cantor fitzgerald howard lutnick and 9 11 a story of loss and renewal . on september 2 2004 cantor filed a civil lawsuit against the kingdom of saudi arabia for allegedly providing money to the hijackers and al qaeda one of a number of organizations to do so . 15 it was later joined in the suit by the port authority of new york . 16 most of the claims against saudi arabia were dismissed on january 18 2005 . 17 in december 2013 cantor fitzgerald settled its lawsuit against american airlines for 135 million . cantor fitzgerald was suing for loss of property and interruption of business alleging the airline was negligent by allowing hijackers to board flight 11 . 18 philanthropy edit edie lutnick is the author of an unbroken bond the untold story of how the 658 cantor fitzgerald families faced the tragedy of 9 11 and beyond . all the proceeds from the sale of the book benefit the cantor fitzgerald relief fund and the charities it assists . 19 the cantor fitzgerald relief fund provided 10 million to families affected by hurricane sandy . howard lutnick and the relief fund adopted 19 elementary schools in impacted areas distributing 1 000 prepaid debit cards to each family from the schools . 20 in total 10 million in funds were given to families affected by the storm . 21 two days after the 2013 moore tornado struck moore oklahoma killing 24 people and injuring hundreds howard lutnick pledged to donate 2 million to families affected by the tornado . the donation was given out in the form of 1 000 debit cards given out to area families . 22 23 each year on september 11 cantor fitzgerald and its affiliate bgc partners donate 100 % of their revenue to charitable causes on their annual charity day which was originally established to raise money to assist the families of cantor employees who died in the world trade center attacks . 24 since its inception charity day has raised 113 million for charities globally . citation needed subsidiaries and affiliates edit the firm has many subsidiaries and affiliates . these include aqua securities an alternative trading system for block trades which is currently used by nearly 200 institutions and brokers as an alternative to algorithmic trading of large orders . bgc partners named after fixed income trading innovator b. gerald cantor who founded cantor fitzgerald in 1945 is a global brokerage company servicing the wholesale financial markets and commercial real estate marketplace in new york london and other financial centers . bgc partners includes newmark grubb knight frank the fourth largest real estate service provider in the u.s. cantor ventures the venture capital and enterprise development arm of the company . current investments when include delivery.com ritani and topline games . delivery.com an online destination for consumers to shop their neighborhood merchants including local restaurants grocers wine and liquor stores florists and other retail and service providers . global gaming asset management an investment vehicle formed by cantor and former executives of las vegas sands to invest in acquire develop manage and advise casino operators and other gaming assets . hollywood stock exchange founded in 1996 is the world s virtual entertainment stock market . topline game labs a technology company to create short duration fantasy sports and entertainment based social gaming . headquartered in los angeles topline game labs was in 2013 building a platform agnostic architecture to power game experiences for sports . 25 management and directors edit howard lutnick chairman and chief executive officer 26 stuart fraser vice chairman 26 shawn matthews chief executive officer cantor fitzgerald & co. 26 stephen merkel executive managing director general counsel secretary and director 26 douglas r. barnard chief financial officer 26 critical review edit venetia thompson at that time an employee of cantor fitzgerald published in february 2008 an article in the spectator about the behaviour of her colleagues and herself with an emphasis on the drinking culture . 27 she was subsequently fired for gross misconduct . she replied in 2010 by publishing a book about her experiences under the same title . isbn 9781847397706 28 references edit howard lutnick bio . retrieved june 15 2012 . stuart fraser bio . retrieved june 15 2012 . shawn matthews bio . retrieved june 15 2012 . about us . cantor fitzgerald . retrieved february 6 2015 . executive profile howard w. lutnick . bloomberg businessweek . february 11 2015 . http www.cantor.com press releases cantor fitzgerald co research analysts youssef squali and brian white recognized in tipranks.html office locations . cantor fitzgerald . march 4 2000 . retrieved on october 4 2009 . office locations . cantor fitzgerald . august 9 2001 . retrieved on october 4 2009 . september 11 2001 08 46 46 arch 1612975 d alpha mccullagh declan november 25 2009 . egads confidential 9 11 pager messages disclosed . taking liberties . cbs news blogs . archived from the original on november 28 2009 . retrieved november 28 2009 . 9 11 hit home for scott auker . manheim central news . september 11 2011 . retrieved june 25 2012 . a b iconic 9 11 figures where are they now . msnbc . 2010 . jessica pressler august 27 2011 . the encyclopedia of 9 11 cantor fitzgerald the firm that lost the most . . new york . david cohen september 11 2009 . cantor fitzgerald ... the city firm that rose from the 9 11 ashes . london evening standard . wtc agency sues saudis over 9 11 bbc news online september 11 2004 port authority to join suit against saudi arabia over 9 11 attack associated press september 13 2004 glovin david 18 january 2005 . saudi arabia wins dismissal from sept. 11 lawsuits update1 . bloomberg . retrieved 19 october 2012 . benjamin weiser december 17 2013 . cantor fitzgerald settles 9 11 suit against american airlines for 135 million . the new york times . retrieved december 18 2013 . lutnick edie september 11 2012 . honor the past by building a positive future . huffington post . cantor fitzgerald robin hood sandy aid tops 70 million . bloomberg . cantor fitzgerald gives 10m to victims . crain s new york business . bloomberg . retrieved 6 december 2013 . wells jesse . new ny group in 9 11 makes 1000 donations to may 20th storm victims . kfor tv . kfor . retrieved 6 december 2013 . 1000 gift cards given . newsok . newsok.com . princes break trading world record as celebs raise 12m for charity . look to the stars . september 16 2013 . dave paresh june 27 2013 . topline gets 25 million to launch short term fantasy game platform . los angeles times . tribune . retrieved