Cantor Fitzgerald to hold annual Sept. 11 Charity Day: 'I think about all the friends that I lost'
The Cantor Fitzgerald Charity Relief Fund has distributed about $369M as part of Sept. 11 charity work
Exclusive: Howard Lutnick shares company’s reconstruction after 9/11
Cantor Fitzgerald L.P. Chairman and CEO Howard Lutnick joins ‘The Claman Countdown’ to reflect on company’s rebuilding efforts following the Sept. 11 terrorist attack and weighs in on the markets leading up to a major Fed meeting.
Cantor Fitzgerald will hold its annual Charity Day event in memory of those who lost their lives Sept. 11, 2001.
Cantor Fitzgerald occupied the five floors above the impact zone where the plane struck the North Tower. The company lost 658 employees in the terrorist attack, the majority of its 960-person New York workforce.
Rather than shut down, the company worked to rebuild and tried to find a way to honor and remember those who lost their lives.
Cantor Fitzgerald chairman and CEO Howard Lutnick told FOX Business’ Liz Claman about his emotions whenever he hosts the Charity Day events.
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"I get that feeling as this time gets closer and closer … I think about all the friends that I lost," Lutnick said. "They stay in your heart and then, on the days getting closer to 9/11 and on Charity Day, they come right to the top of your mind."
Howard Lutnick, chairman and CEO of BGC Partners Inc., speaks during the Piper Sandler Global Exchange and FinTech Conference in New York City June 8, 2022. (Reuters/Brendan McDermid / Reuters Photos)
Lutnick arrived late to work on Sept. 11 after taking his 5-year-old son to his first day of kindergarten. The decision spared his life as none of the employees, including his brother, who went to work that day survived. Lutnick then spent "days on end" going to funerals for all the employees he lost, according to Bloomberg.
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The company started by distributing 100% of its global revenues earned on Charity Day to the Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund and charities around the world. Since the first Charity Day, the fund has additionally raised approximately $192 million globally, according to the company. The fund has now distributed $369 million.
Anshu Jain, Edie Lutnick, Howard Lutnick and Jim Buccola on Sept. 11, 2019, in New York City. (Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images for Cantor Fitzgerald / Getty Images)
"Each anniversary is a poignant occasion for us," the company said in a statement on its website. "Charity Day is our way of turning a tragic day into one that is positive and uplifting by helping others."
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Previous Charity Days have had visits from celebrities like Saquon Barkley of the New York Giants, Kiss frontman Gene Simmons, former President Clinton, Princes William and Harry Windsor.
Britain's Prince Harry, left, and Prince William take part in a trade on the trading floor of BGC Partners in London Sept. 11, 2013. | Reuters Photos
The company has grown from 10 offices and 2,200 employees to 60 offices and 13,000 employees. Lutnick previously mentioned that at least 60 employees at his company are the children of workers who died in the attack.
"Cantor Fitzgerald was destroyed on 9/11. It’s a wonderful place now," Lutnick said.
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Since Sept. 11 falls on a Sunday this year, Charity Day will take place Monday, Sept. 12.