Arthur E. de Cordova

Arthur E. de Cordova, who was a New York Stock Exchange floor specialist for 30 years, and responsible for trading the IBM book, died in Sarasota, FL on April 16. He was 75. The cause was heart failure, said his son, Arthur E. de Cordova III. Mr. de Cordova was the fourth generation to work as a floor specialist in a family firm that originated as Alfred de Cordova & Co., in 1882. He was later joined by his younger brother, Eustace de Cordova Jr., until de Cordova, Cooper & Co. was purchased by Paine Webber in 1989. In 1914, IBM was listed on the New York Stock Exchange, and assigned to Cyril de Cordova & Brother, who acted as market maker and managed all floor trading activity in the new stock. IBM became a bellwether stock as the company grew in the post WWII economic expansion, and their trading volume on the exchange soared. Mr. de Cordova assumed responsibilities for managing the IBM book from his father Eustace de Cordova in 1968, and remained the IBM floor specialist until 1989. Arthur E. de Cordova and his firm were part of the proud history of IBM on the New York Stock Exchange dating back to its listing nearly a hundred years ago,” said Mike Fay, an IBM spokesman. “Mr. de Cordova was IBM floor specialist at the NYSE during a period of tremendous growth and achievement for IBM and American business. The IBM company would like to extend our thanks for his years of service and our best wishes to his family and friends.” Arthur Erroll de Cordova was born on July 23, 1934, in New York City. The family were longtime residents of Weston, CT, where they retained a family home until 1972. He attended the Unquowa School, and was graduated from The Lawrenceville School in 1952. He was President of his fraternity, Phi Sigma Kappa, and after earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from Hobart College in 1956, joined the United States Air Force, completing his service at Ladd Air Force Base in Fairbanks, Alaska. He retired from the Air Force in 1960 with the rank of Captain. He soon joined de Cordova & Co., becoming a member of the New York Stock Exchange in March, 1961. He remained a member for 45 years until the NYSE’s public listing in 2006. During his more than 30 years as an active member trading on the exchange, he also served as a NYSE Floor Governor and Director of the NYSE Luncheon Club. He is survived by his wife of more than 33 years, Jerri C. de Cordova, of Casey Key, FL. and Westport, CT., and a son, Arthur E. de Cordova III, of San Francisco, from a previous marriage to Carole Magner. In 2005, Hobart and William Smith Colleges awarded him a Doctor of Humane Letters in recognition of his long and enduring contributions to the school. “Arthur de Cordova was a valued alumnus who distinguished himself in the world of business and was a thoughtful and attentive graduate who nurtured and cared for his alma mater,” commented Mark D. Gearan, President of Hobart and William Smith Colleges. “Despite the rigors of his professional life, he always found time to support Hobart and William Smith and our Board acknowledged his life of consequence by bestowing its highest honor to him – an Honorary Degree presented at Commencement in 2005. At Hobart and William Smith Colleges we prize excellence and Art de Cordova embodied a true Hobart Statesman.”