Paul Kolton, Leader of Major Exchange, Dies at 87

The cause was lymphoma, his daughter, Shelley Kolton, said.
When Mr. Kolton was named president of the Amex in 1971, it was the first time an in-house employee, rather than a leading figure from the financial world, was put atop one of the major securities exchanges. He was elevated to chairman, a newly created post, a year later after the Amex’s board was reorganized.
Mr. Kolton reached that position without ever having served as a stockbroker. A former reporter for The New York Journal of Commerce and a mystery writer, he landed his first Wall Street job working in public relations for the Amex’s bigger rival, the New York stock exchange.