When her husband died eleven months ago, Mrs. Charles Ulrick Bay, widow of the former U.S. Ambassador to Norway, found herself with 71% of the stock in Wall Street's venerable (since 1865) brokerage firm of A. M. Kidder & Co. Inc. But the New York Stock Exchange requires, in effect, that a stockholder who owns more than 45% of a member company's shares must either 1) sell the stock, or 2) take an active part in the firm. Since she always had an active interest in her husband's business and philanthropic dealings, Mrs. Bay had no trouble making her choice. This week, at 56, she becomes Kidder's board chairman and president, the first woman to hold such posts in the Stock Exchange's 164-year history.
Broker Bay has other substantial holdings, including a controlling interest (282,000 out of the 1,200,000 shares) in American Export Lines, where she is chairman of the executive committee. "After my husband's death," she says, "I couldn't sit back and cut coupons. I like a man's world." She also finds time to care for three adopted Norwegian children, try new recipes (out of 50 cookbooks), follow the fortunes of a stable of racing thoroughbreds, sail a 12-meter racing yacht, oversee a score of philanthropies (brain tumor, cerebral palsy, other medical research). Since women control an increasing amount of the nation's wealth, says Mrs. Bay, she feels that they ought to take a greater part in the financial world. Says she: "Times have really changed on Wall Street. I'm the first woman who has ever done this. Why not others?"