The New York Stock Exchange began in 1792 after the Buttonwood Agreement.
On May 17, 1792, 24 brokers and merchants signed the agreement under a buttonwood tree on Wall Street in New York City. They agreed to trade securities with one another and to charge standardized commissions, creating an organized alternative to informal auctions.
The agreement did not immediately create the modern NYSE building or its present corporate structure. The group first met outdoors and later moved among locations in lower Manhattan. In 1817, it adopted the name New York Stock & Exchange Board, which was shortened to New York Stock Exchange in 1863.
The NYSE is often described as the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of listed companies, although rankings can vary with market prices and listing methods. The Buttonwood Agreement is also commonly treated as its founding document, rather than the date of a later incorporation.