At the 2025 Museum of American Finance Gala on March 6, the Museum honored Richard A. Gephardt with the Whitehead Award for Distinguished Public Service and Financial Leadership and Peter S. Lynch with the Lifetime Achievement Award. In addition, there was a Special Recognition Tribute to Arthur D. Cashin, Jr.( 1941 – 2024). Excerpts from the remarks delivered that evening are published below.

BOB PISANI

Senior Markets Correspondent, CNBC

Our first presentation is to a man The Washington Post called Wall Street’ s version of Walter Cronkite. I spent 27 years sitting by this man’ s side. He had an incalculable influence on me. Art Cashin was my friend and, most importantly, he was the rarest of all creatures. He had no natural enemies. You would think on Wall Street people have enemies. They do, but Art Cashin was a man who was beloved by everyone— bulls and bears and conservatives and liberals. Nobody ever had a nasty word to say about Art Cashin. Art was UBS’ s Director of Floor Operations at the New York Stock Exchange, but he was a lot more than that to all of us, and particularly to CNBC where he was a regular on our air for 25 years. As many of you know, Art Cashin passed away in December at the age of 83.

What made Art Cashin such a wonderful, likable guy? His success was, I think, attributable to a combination of charm, wit, intelligence and an absolute refusal to conform to the modern world. He did not have credit cards. He carried cash everywhere he went. He didn’ t use a computer. He had a beat-up flip phone. He didn’ t like cell phones. He didn’ t like a lot of things of modern convenience, but he was a man of tradition. Every year on New Year’ s Eve, he led the singing on the floor of“ Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nelly,” a 1905 song, and we continued that tradition this year, despite his absence.

There were days he came in looking like he was a homeless person. His suits were rumpled. He had ties that were from the 1950s. But it was a very carefully constructed

persona. It looked like it was casual, but he knew exactly what he was doing. He joined Paine Webber in 1980 to manage its floor operations. He continued to do so after it was acquired by UBS in 2000. Then, on September 11, 2001, he’ d often recall his escape from Ground Zero when terrorists crashed into the World Trade Center. He chaired the NYSE’ s Fallen Hero Fund and raised millions of dollars for charity. He was a remarkable market historian. I spent hours and hours sitting and talking with him about the history of the market, and the most important thing is he never let data get in the way. He knew the data, but the most important thing to him was the ability to tell a story; for him, narrative always triumphed over facts and data.

He was a market historian, but he was not an academic, and he made that very clear. He had a huge influence on the way I look at and cover the markets. He had two great loves in his life— his family and the New York Stock Exchange. At the time Art joined Wall Street, the vast majority of trading took place on the floor. When I got there in 1996, there were 4,000 people that did 80 % of the volume. That was his world. He lived in it. He ruled it. His early memories revolved around the noise of thousands of brokers shouting at each other. He claimed to be able to tell if the market was moving up or down by the pitch of the screaming among his many friends, including a group known as the“ Friends of Fermentation.” I was a member as well.

We assembled every day after trading halted. Perhaps he’ ll be best remembered for his modesty. Art Cashin was one of the great raconteurs, storytellers and drinkers in the history of Wall Street. Going out with Art Cashin for the night was like participating in an episode of Mad Men. You’ d go out and you’ d sit down and he’ d order his favorite drink, Dewars on the rocks. I’ d order bourbon and an hour and a half later, you’ re still there with Art. Art was a slow drinker. An hour and a half later, you’ re on your third drink with Art, and then he starts ordering dinner. First thing, Irish caviar. That’ s pigs in a blanket. Then the French fries, then a hamburger, then maybe a steak. And most of the time, I never made it to the steak. I never even made it to the French fries. In the middle of the second drink, he’ d say,“ Now, Bob, I heard what you had to say on the air. It was very good, but you missed something.” Great, now I’ m going to hear a lecture from Professor Cashin about how I screwed up today. Invariably, though, he was right, which was really annoying. He invariably helped improve my reporting, and I got better and better. He stood up for me when I came down there in 1996. 4,000 people on the floor. You want to know what loneliness is like? 4,000 people on the floor— all of them potential stories and sources— and nobody will talk to you.

Art Cashin was one of the few who stood up and said,“ This guy Pisani is okay.” I’ ll never forget that. You never forget somebody who helps you like that. I know tonight he’ d be honored, but also a little bit puzzled, as to why we’ ve singled him out for this Special Recognition Award.

ARTHUR AND PETER CASHIN

Sons of Arthur D. Cashin, Jr.

Thanks, Bob and thank you to the Museum of American Finance and its Board for choosing to honor our father with this recognition. It’ s still impressive to us to hear his name grouped with the Honorable Dick Gephardt and esteemed Peter Lynch. As we read up on

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