Exchange mentorship debts are repaid forward to younger traders, not back to benefactors.

Evidence

“Corky” Eisen, Power’s second “godfather,” reports: … I … came to the Board of Trade as a clerk at the age of twenty… One of my mentors was an Irishman by the name of Jim McKerr… He brought me in as a clerk, financed me, loaned me … the money to buy the membership… When I came back from the service (Korea), things were tough then. I went to work for another Irishman, Bill Haggerty senior… They were wonderful to me and when I got my membership back he wanted me to clear through him. I told him ”… I have an obligation to Jim McKerr, and I’m going to clear and be his customer, not yours.” I expected him to say “That’s very nice, here’s the door, goodbye.” Instead he said “I can understand that. As a matter of fact, I respect you for it, your job here is secured.” … So I remained McKerr’s customer. I felt obligated. In about two years I developed into a pretty good trader … but I realized the only way I could survive and compete was to become a [clearing] member. I still didn’t have any money because in those two years I was paying lots of debts. I was now even. I went to Jim McKerr (that was in 1956) and said “I’m going to start clearing.” He said “That’s wonderful … but what are you going to do for money?” … My share was 15,000 in order to start a clearing firm and Jim said "Okay" and reached in his pocket and wrote me a check for 15,000. I didn’t even ask. I said “How in the world can I ever thank you?” And he said “You have a debt, but the debt is to youngsters that come on after you. You can repay me by helping other kids.” … Many years later, when the Options Exchange was in existence, I was a clearing member and I was taking a lot of young floor traders as customers. One day Jim McKerr came visiting from Florida … he was 80 years old… One of the kids jumped and gave him a big hug. Jim looked at him he was rather reserved and said “What’s that for?” And the guy said “Dlr. McKerr, I owe my career to you. Whenever I came to Corky [Eisen] to thank him, he told me about you and he said that he was returning your help.” When I took him down to lunch there must have been twenty people who shook his hand, people he had never seen or heard of. But this was his legacy and we have passed it on. (Eisen, interviewed by 1\1i11o) “Respect” and “obligation,” in their turn, are resources for moral suasion. — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera, 686

Categorization

• SHARE: A vivid anecdote for anyone interested in institutional cultures of mentorship, and the strikingly explicit ‘debt to the future’ norm.
• SEED: Could anchor an essay on how ‘pay it forward’ obligation economies (rather than reciprocity) build durable institutional loyalty and reproduction.