How many bankers does it take to ring the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange?
Apparently 11 if you're BankAtlantic. The Fort Lauderdale bank has been picked for the closing bell ceremony at 4 p.m. Tuesday - its third time doing the honors.
As with the past two times, in 2001 and 2002, bank chairman and CEO Alan Levan will be the main bell ringer. But this time he'll be flanked by 10 members of his executive management team, including supervisors of finance, marketing, credit, human resources, alternative delivery and commercial lending, to name a few.
Bank spokesman Leo Hinckley said the bevy of bankers "only seemed right" because managers beat goals in so many ways last year. "The stock has outperformed pretty much all the indices for the last three years running," he said. "We went over the $1-billion market cap, which was a big milestone for us."
