Josephine Perfect Bay

Josephine Holt Perfect Bay
Born	Josephine Holt Perfect (1900-08-10) August 10, 1900 (age 124) Anamosa, Iowa, U.S.
Died	(1962-08-06)August 6, 1962 New York, New York, U.S.
Known for	First woman to head a member firm of the New York Stock Exchange
Spouses	Charles Ulrick Bay Paul Michael Iogolevitch

Josephine Holt Perfect Bay (August 10, 1900 – August 6, 1962) was an American financier and businessperson. She notably became the first woman to head a constituent firm of the New York Stock Exchange.[1]

Biography

Josephine Perfect Bay (née Perfect) was born in Anamosa, Iowa, in 1900 to a real estate broker and his wife. Her family moved to Brooklyn, New York, when she was young, and she was educated at Brooklyn Heights Seminary and attended Colorado College from 1918 to 1919.[1]

She married her first husband Charles Ulrick Bay, a businessman and Office of Strategic Services officer, in 1942. Ulrick Bay went on to become the United States ambassador to Norway before dying in 1955. At the time of his death, he held a 71% stake in A.M. Kidder & Co, a New York brokerage firm. In accordance with the rules of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), this required Charles' beneficiary to either sell their shares or assume his former role in the firm.[2]

Rather than divest her stake, Josephine Bay chose to head the firm, and in 1956 became the president and chairman of A.M. Kidder & Co. In doing so, she became the first woman to lead a member firm of the NYSE.[3][4] She would also serve as chairman of the board and chief executive officer of American Export Lines.[5]

In 1959, she married Paul Michael Iogolevitch, also known as Capton Michael Paul, a Russian émigré who had become a successful banker. She remained the head of A.M. Kidder and chairman of the board of American Export Lines until her death in 1962.[6]

The Josephine Bay Paul Center at the University of Chicago is named in her honor.[5]

References

1. "Josephine Holt Perfect Bay". Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved 2024-05-28.
2. "WALL STREET: Changing Times". Time. 1956-12-03. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 2021-07-08.
3. "Full text of Commercial and Financial Chronicle : November 29, 1956, Vol. 184, No. 5590 | FRASER | St. Louis Fed". fraser.stlouisfed.org. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
4. "First Woman to Become Head Of Brokerage House in Wall St.; Josephine Perfect Bay to Be Chairman and President of A.M. Kidder & Co". The New York Times. 1956-11-29. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
5. "About Josephine". The Bay Paul Center. 2014-04-01. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
6. Heinemann, Sue (1996). Timelines of American Women's History. Penguin. ISBN 978-0-399-51986-4.