William A. Paine

William Alfred Paine (b. January 29 1855, Amesbury, Massachusetts - d. September 24 1929) was an American businessman who co-founded the stock brokerage firm, Paine Webber.

He began his career in finance in 1873 as a clerk at a bank in Boston. In 1880, with a loan from his father, he partnered with Wallace G. Webber to create the brokerage firm, Paine, Webber & C. They became members of both the Boston and New York Stock Exchanges.

In 1887, William Paine married Ruth Felton Ward with whom he had two sons and three daughters. Outside of building a successful brokerage business, in 1899 William Paine invested in the Copper Range Consolidated Company, a major mining venture in the "Copper Country" of Michigan, for which he served as president. The town of Painesdale, Michigan was named for him and Freda, Michigan is named for his daughter.

After running his highly successful brokerage business for nearly fifty years, William Paine died just a few weeks before the Wall Street Crash of 1929. His son, F. Ward Paine, took over as head of the company.