Tom Farley, President of the New York Stock Exchange, stopped by the Cheddar set to celebrate the NYSE’s 224th birthday! He talked about the history of stock exchange, which is home to more than 2,800 companies with a combined worth of about $15 trillion. To explain how the NYSE was founded, Farley brought the original copy of Alexander Hamilton’s first report on public credit that he presented to Congress in 1790. “The greatest companies in the world have come here to raise money to productize their ideas and make the world a better place,” said Farley on Monday. He also touched on the current IPO market and how initial public offerings are making somewhat of a comeback. “There is cause for optimism,” said Farley. “We have a number of IPOs planned for May and we have even more lined up for June, even some billion dollar IPOs.”