William A. Porter

In 1982, William A. Porter (born November 10, 1928) and Bernie Newcomb founded the first ever electronic stock brokerage, E*TRADE — heralding both the demise of the ticker tape cite web|url= http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/04/does-this-town-still-know-how-to-give-a-victory-parade/| title= Does This Town Still Know How to Give a Victory Parade?|publisher=The New York Times, City Room, By Jennifer Lee, Feb 4, 2008] and the advent of the electronic trading age.

After the success of E*TRADE, Porter also co-founded International Securities Exchange (ISE) with Marty Averbuch cite web | url= http://www.ise.com/WebForm/viewPage.aspx?categoryId=141&header5=true&menu0=true&link0=true| title= ISE History of Leadership| publisher=ISE.com] and became (the first) chairman of ISE on his 70th birthday in 1998 cite web | url= http://www.thestandard.com/article/0,1902,2471,00.html| title= E-Trade Founder Unveils Electronic Options Exchange| publisher=TheStandard.com, Megan Barnett, November 10, 1998] . Porter is former chief executive officer, current board member, and chairman emeritus of E*TRADE.

In 2000, CNN called Porter the "forefather of online trading cite web|url= http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0002/06/pin.00.html| title= Pinnacle William Porter: Forefather of Online Trading|publisher=CNN.com, Pinnacle, aired February 6, 2000 ] ."

Early life

Porter was born and raised in Boulder, Colorado cite web|url= http://spectrum.mit.edu/issue/2000-winter/a-significant-gift/|title= A Significant Gift | publisher=Spectrum M.I.T.] cite web|url= http://www.phys.ksu.edu/alumni/nichols-lectures/2002/porter.html| title= 2002 Ernest Fox Nichols Lecture, Applying Physics for the Betterment of Humankind|publisher=Physics at KState, September 20, 2002] and spent his childhood summers as a cowboy on a Colorado ranch cite web|url= http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0002/06/pin.00.html| title= Pinnacle William Porter: Forefather of Online Trading|publisher=CNN.com, Pinnacle, aired February 6, 2000 ] . He quit high school to join the Navy during WWII and was expelled from the Navy when they learned he was only sixteen. Porter later put himself through college, finishing undergraduate work in three years cite web | url= http://www2.adams.edu/alumni/billy_adams/billy_adams.php| title= Adams Billy Adams Award, 2005, William Porter| publisher=Adams State College] and working nights as a crew dispatcher on the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad cite web|url= http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0002/06/pin.00.html| title= Pinnacle William Porter: Forefather of Online Trading|publisher=CNN.com, Pinnacle, aired February 6, 2000 ] cite web | url= http://www.adams.edu/news/may0715/may0715.php| title= Adams State alumnus gives $5.8 million for science and math scholarships| publisher=Adams State College, May 17, 2007] . According to a 2000 CNN interview, Porter attributes his self-confidence to his work as a young cowboy:

As a student at Adams State College, Porter and other students would take turns visiting and reading aloud to the aged and infirmed former governor of Colorado, Billy Adams cite web | url= http://www2.adams.edu/alumni/billy_adams/billy_adams.php| title= Adams Billy Adams Award, 2005, William Porter| publisher=Adams State College] .

Creation of "E*TRADE"

In 1980, in Palo Alto, Porter met Bernie Newcomb at a party cite web|url= http://www.afb.org/Section.asp?SectionID=41&TopicID=230&DocumentID=2050| title= Bernard A. Newcomb Donor Profile
publisher=American Foundation for the Blind] . Having recently purchased an Apple II computer, Porter had the idea that a personal computer could be used to buy and sell stock. Having no means of accessing the necessary information with his modem, Porter convinced Newcomb to become his partner and together create a company that would enable any individual with a personal computer to trade stocks from their home -- thereby disintermediating stock trades. Newcomb developed the programming which enabled the project to succeed.

According to Porter, the first actual trade, made on July 11, 1983 cite web|url= http://spectrum.mit.edu/issue/2000-winter/a-significant-gift/|title= A Significant Gift | publisher=Spectrum M.I.T.] , was made by a dentist in Michigan cite web|url= http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0002/06/pin.00.html| title= Pinnacle William Porter: Forefather of Online Trading|publisher=CNN.com, Pinnacle, aired February 6, 2000 ] .

In 1992, "PC Magazine" featured Trade*Plus on its cover. In 1992, The "San Jose Business Journal" named Trade*Plus the year's fastest growing private company in Silicon Valley cite web|url= http://www.afb.org/Section.asp?SectionID=41&TopicID=230&DocumentID=2050| title= Bernard A. Newcomb Donor Profile|publisher=American Foundation for the Blind] . In 1996, Trade*Plus was renamed E-Trade Group and went public. Newcomb retired soon after and established a philanthropic foundation, the Bernard A. Newcomb Foundation.

Career prior to "E*TRADE"

Education
Porter received a B.A. from Adams State College, an M.S. in Physics from Kansas State University, and a Master's degree in Management (M.B.A.) from the Sloan Fellows program at the MIT Sloan School of Management.

First Company
Porter started Commercial Electronics Inc. in 1968 cite web | url= http://www2.adams.edu/alumni/billy_adams/billy_adams.php| title= Adams Billy Adams Award, 2005, William Porter| publisher=Adams State College] and developed the first commercial low-light night vision for electron microscopes cite web | url= http://www2.adams.edu/alumni/billy_adams/billy_adams.php| title= Adams Billy Adams Award, 2005, William Porter| publisher=Adams State College] and the first color low-light (night vision) broadcast television camera, a technology that's used today in all broadcast cameras. Porter sold Commercial Electronics to Warner Communications after the cancellation of a large order during the 1974 recession cite web |url= http://entrepreneurship.mit.edu/legendary_leaders_memorials.php#Porter| title= Legendary Leaders and Memorials, William A. Porter '67 Founder of Online Brokerages | publisher=MIT Entrepreneurship Center] cite web|url= http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0002/06/pin.00.html| title= Pinnacle William Porter: Forefather of Online Trading|publisher=CNN.com, Pinnacle, aired February 6, 2000 ] .

Patents
Porter holds 14 patents, having developed a number of electronic devices and processes -- including for the aforementioned "first" shoulder-mounted-backpack broadcast color TV camera, the first infrared horizon sensor for satellite stabilization (prior to Sputnik) cite web|url= http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0002/06/pin.00.html| title= Pinnacle William Porter: Forefather of Online Trading|publisher=CNN.com, Pinnacle, aired February 6, 2000 ] , and several other breakthroughs still in use today in a variety of fields -- including, according to the 2000 CNN interview, devices used by the US military to this day cite web|url= http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0002/06/pin.00.html| title= Pinnacle William Porter: Forefather of Online Trading|publisher=CNN.com, Pinnacle, aired February 6, 2000 ] .

The Search
Under the project name "The Search", Porter developed the first electronic diesel-electric locomotive "checkoutsystem," whereby a testing device could be inserted into a locomotive engine. The Southern Pacific and B&O Railroads suggested the system could improve operating capacity of the approximately 33,000 locomotive engines in the US by roughly 10 percent cite web|url= http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0002/06/pin.00.html| title= Pinnacle William Porter: Forefather of Online Trading|publisher=CNN.com, Pinnacle, aired February 6, 2000 ] .

Management and Directorships
Porter has served as Chairman of Trelleborg Rubber Company, President of Tretorn Shoes, and President of Commercial Electronics Incorporated (see below). Porter was Director of Research and Planning for Textron from 1962-67, and Research Manager and Electrical Engineer of General Electric's Advanced Electronics Center at Cornell University from 1957-62. He was a physicist with the National Bureau of Standards from 1952-1957 cite web | url= http://www2.adams.edu/alumni/billy_adams/billy_adams.php| title= Adams Billy Adams Award, 2005, William Porter| publisher=Adams State College] .

Personal life and philanthropy

Porter has three children from his first wife, Ada Guthrie cite web | url= http://www2.adams.edu/alumni/billy_adams/billy_adams.php| title= Adams Billy Adams Award, 2005, William Porter
publisher=Adams State College] , now deceased. He and his second wife Joan, who has one child from a previous marriage cite web|url= http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0002/06/pin.00.html| title= Pinnacle William Porter: Forefather of Online Trading|publisher=CNN.com, Pinnacle, aired February 6, 2000 ] , have homes in Portola Valley, California and Princeville, Hawaiicite web |url= http://www.phys.ksu.edu/news/2007/porter-endowment.html| title= William and Joan Porter Professor of Physics| publisher=Physics @ K State] . They have ten grandchildren cite web | url= http://www.mitcnc.org/Newsletters/99-Winter.pdf| title= E-Business Entrepreneur William Porter G’67 Donates $25M To Sloan
publisher=MIT Club of Northern California] .

In 1999, Porter and his wife Joan gave $25 million to MIT's Sloan School of Management cite web | url= http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/1999/10/25/daily27.html| title= Porter gives $25M to MIT| publisher=Business Journal, October 28, 1999] :

cquote|My wife and I decided to give one major thing that would have significant meaning for humankind, and trying to leverage the Institute’s technological capability through entrepreneurship for the betterment of the human condition is it cite web |url= http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20070430006334&newsLang=en| title= MIT Sloan Groundbreaking Ceremony to Unveil Plans for New Eastern "Gateway" | publisher=BusinessWire.com April 30, 2007] .

In 2007, The Porter's gave 250,000 shares of E*trade stock to Adams State College (worth approximately $5.8 million at the time), the largest gift in school's history cite web | url= http://www.adams.edu/news/may0715/may0715.php| title= Adams State alumnus gives $5.8 million for science and math scholarships| publisher=Adams State College, May 17, 2007] .

ee also

*E*TRADE
*Bernie Newcomb

References