Up Next>The Interview Exclusive: Peter Tuchman "The Face of Wall Street"

For several months now, I have been reading as much as I can on the stock market. I began to notice a trend. On the cover of every newspaper and in every article relating to the going-on of the market, a certain man's face appears. That man is Peter Tuchman. This phenomenon peeked my curiosity and I decided to investigate further. I sat on the subway for almost an hour, waited outside the building around 4PM (a common time for traders to end their day) and approached the first person I saw exit the building and asked to speak to Peter Tuchman. Almost immediately he returned and with him, a very puzzled Peter. Peter shook my hand and with some begging, agreed to answer questions about his job, his life and a little about the market...(Read interview to the right of blog). He has been on the cover of The Arizona Daily Star, 660 News, The Star Ledger (NJ), The Housten Chronicle, The Canadian Press, ABC News, The Daily News, New York Times and The Wall Street Journal (to name a few)

What do you do?

I do a lot of things. I trade on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. I distribute and run a specialty food company....I am an inventor of food products...

Yum!

...basically a wealth of useless information...

How many countries saw your face?

I don't know.

Guess.

Probably twenty, something like that.

Wow! How did you react to all this attention?

I love it. I am a completely egotistical maniac...

And your family, what did they think of all this on-going publicity? I mean you became a celebrity literally overnight and not for a good reason either (smiling)

True. My family loved it!

Do you have the rights to all those pictures they use of you all around the world daily and weekly?

Yes.

You seem to have met a lot of celebrities! Did that have to do with the stock market crash?

No, I met those celebrities randomly when they visited us here. I just have a boisterous personality. Celebrities are deeply attracted to me and I'm very forward about getting my picture taken with them.

You met Josh Hartnet right? When? What was he like? He single? If so, get his number for me please?

I met him when he was making a movie here, I forget the name, it was about money though...he was a nice guy.

What about the guy from Everybody Loves Raymond I see you met him too!

He was visiting here a different day. And he just grabbed me by my ears and called me "The Professor" and they took a picture of us.

There's another picture here of you Peter, I assume it's when the stock market began slipping, you look devastated, and a little depressed.

I wasn't depressed...

No?

Those were not emotions of depression; I was overwhelmed and stressed but not depressed.

So, you're not really vested in the stocks then?

Not really, no. I don't own one stock.

And yet you became "The Face of the Stock Exchange," how ironic is that?

I know.

How many years you work here anyway?

Twenty-three.

That's crazy.

Same job, different companies.

How was the Series 7? Heard it's like the Bar Exam and everyone fails it at least once.

Didn't have to take it. I'm a floor trader. I love my job. I do open outcry which is quickly being replaced by computers now.

That's a disappointment.

It's where you scream and yell...which I'm very good at.

Oh yeah, why?

Because I am loud and obnoxious.

Before you did this...what else did you do?

I lived in Africa for two years doing finance for an oil company.

What other countries have you been to?

Almost every state in the United States...Guadeloupe, England, France, Norway, Denmark, Holland, Italy, Greenland.

Greenland?

It's between Iceland and America, it's basically a volcano. In Africa: Togo, Benin, Ghana...Morocco, Israel....

And your favorite place is?

Norway.

Why?

Good beer, good women.

Hmmm, you religious?

No, not religious but spiritual.

Spiritual in what sense?

Familial and Jewishness...

Do you apply your spirituality to other aspects of your life, like at work?

In order to stay positive, it's important to be spiritual in the light of things with what's going on here, it's stressful.

Have your pictures ended up in any newspaper covers today?

Yep, Yahoo and The South Dakota Argus Leaders and last week my face appeared on the cover of two French newspapers.

Someone should write a book about you, can I? What is your favorite food?

Lobster, Alaskan King Crab, Caviar...and really good chocolate.

From where?

I don't know, Belgium.

Favorite wine with that?

Burgundy...from Portugal or France.

They make good shoes over there too. Do you have a favorite restaurant? What's good around here?

Blue Ribbon, best eclectic dishes around. Oh, it's on Sullivan or Thompson in the Village.

So, when you’re not working here, the place you love...on your day off what do you do? What does free time look like for you in Manhattan?

I just love ethnic neighborhoods, specialty food shops...I rummage around, walk through different neighborhoods, read different menus, bike around Central Park, go to the movies...

Ever take a Pedicab? My friend is a pedicab driver in the city.

Yes, I like pedicabs....I go to the Plaza Hotel, drink champagne.

The Plaza Hotel? That's on 5th Avenue, right?

5th and 7th.

Do your co-workers get jealous that you get photographed and get attention constantly?

Well, they get attention too, just not as much as me, but I don't think they're jealous.

Really? How would they (co-workers) describe you? Gimme four adjectives!

Loud, obnoxious, funny, annoying.

Would you prefer to be your own boss?

I like either. Teamwork is most important to me. At work, I'm the life of the party.
Do you have a favorite local NYC band?No idea with that stuff. I was in the Jazz business though.

Really?

I played the Sax. I play a lot of African percussion instruments...I just love music; I like all different kinds of music. Used to have a record store on Bleeker in the Village from 1980-1982.

What happened?

It went out of business, Tower Records was close by, there were many other competitors and I was just a music specialty store that didn't last.

Were you devastated?

At the time? Yes.