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New York Stock Exchange
NYSE Euronext LogoNYSE Euronext Logo NYSE Logo
Type	Stock exchange
Location	New York City, New York, United States
Founded	March 8, 1817 (1817-03-08)
Owner	NYSE Euronext
Key people	Duncan L. Niederauer (CEO)
Currency	United States dollar
No. of listings	2,308
MarketCap	US$ 14.242 trillion (Dec 2011)[1]
Volume	US$ 20.161 trillion (Dec 2011)
Indexes	Dow Jones Industrial Average S&P 500 NYSE Composite
Website	NYSE.com
New York Stock Exchange
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
Front Elevation of New York Stock Exchange
Coordinates:	40°42′24.6″N 74°0′39.7″W / 40.706833°N 74.011028°W / 40.706833; -74.011028Coordinates: 40°42′24.6″N 74°0′39.7″W / 40.706833°N 74.011028°W / 40.706833; -74.011028
Built:	1903
Architect:	Trowbridge & Livingston; George B. Post
Architectural style:	Classical Revival
Governing body:	Private
NRHP Reference#:	78001877
Significant dates
Added to NRHP:	June 2, 1978[2]
Designated NHL:	June 2, 1978[3]

The New York Stock Exchange, commonly referred to as NYSE is a stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street, Lower Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at US$14.242 trillion as of Dec 2011.^[4] Average daily trading value was approximately US$153 billion in 2008.

The NYSE is operated by NYSE Euronext (NYSE: NYX), which was formed by the NYSE's 2007 merger with the fully electronic stock exchange Euronext. The NYSE trading floor is located at 11 Wall Street and is composed of four rooms used for the facilitation of trading. A fifth trading room, located at 30 Broad Street, was closed in February 2007. The main building, located at 18 Broad Street, between the corners of Wall Street and Exchange Place, was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1978,^[5] as was the 11 Wall Street building.^[3][6][7]

History[link]

The Stock Exchange at 10–12 Broad Street, in 1882

The origin of the NYSE can be traced to May 17, 1792, when the Buttonwood Agreement was signed by 24 stockbrokers outside of 68 Wall Street in New York under a buttonwood tree on Wall Street.^[8] On March 8, 1817, the organization drafted a constitution and renamed itself the "New York Stock & Exchange Board." Anthony Stockholm was elected the Exchange's first president.

The first central location of the Exchange was a room, rented in 1792 for $200 a month, located at 40 Wall Street. After that location was destroyed in the Great Fire of New York in 1835, the Exchange moved to a temporary headquarters. In 1863, the New York Stock & Exchange Board changed to its current name, the New York Stock Exchange. In 1865, the Exchange moved to 10–12 Broad Street.

The New York Stock Exchange was closed for ten days starting September 20, 1873, because of the Panic of 1873.^[9]

The volume of stocks traded increased sixfold in the years between 1896 and 1901, and a larger space was required to conduct business in the expanding marketplace.^[10] Eight New York City architects were invited to participate in a design competition for a new building; ultimately, the Exchange selected the neoclassic design submitted by architect George B. Post. Demolition of the Exchange building at 10 Broad Street, and adjacent buildings, started on May 10, 1901.

The new building, located at 18 Broad Street, cost $4 million and opened on April 22, 1903. The trading floor, at 109 × 140 feet (33 × 42.5 m), was one of the largest volumes of space in the city at the time, and had a skylight set into a 72-foot (22 m)-high ceiling. The main façade of the building features six tall columns with Corinthian capitals, topped by a marble pediment containing high-relief sculptures by John Quincy Adams Ward with the collaboration of Paul Wayland Bartlett, carved by the Piccirilli Brothers, representing Integrity Protecting the Works of Man. The building was listed as a National Historic Landmark and added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 2, 1978.^[11]

In 1922, a building for offices, designed by Trowbridge & Livingston, was added at 11 Wall Street, as well as a new trading floor called the Garage. Additional trading floor space was added in 1969 the Blue Room, and in 1988 the EBR or Extended Blue Room, with the latest technology for information display and communication. Yet another trading floor was opened at 30 Broad Street called the Bond Room in 2000. As the NYSE introduced its hybrid market, a greater proportion of trading came to be executed electronically, and due to the resulting reduction in demand for trading floor space, the NYSE decided to close the 30 Broad Street trading room in early 2006. As the adoption of electronic trading continued to reduce the number of traders and employees on the floor, in late 2007, the NYSE closed the rooms created by the 1969 and 1988 expansions.

The Stock Exchange Luncheon Club was situated on the seventh floor from 1898 until its closure in 2006.^[12]

The floor of the New York Stock Exchange in 1908

The NYSE announced its plans to merge with Archipelago on April 21, 2005, in a deal intended to reorganize the NYSE as a publicly traded company. NYSE's governing board voted to merge with rival Archipelago on December 6, 2005, and become a for-profit, public company. It began trading under the name NYSE Group on March 8, 2006. A little over one year later, on April 4, 2007, the NYSE Group completed its merger with Euronext, the European combined stock market, thus forming the NYSE Euronext, the first transatlantic stock exchange.

Presently, Marsh Carter is Chairman of the New York Stock Exchange, having succeeded John S. Reed and the CEO is Duncan Niederauer, having succeeded John Thain.

Notable events[link]

The exchange was closed shortly after the beginning of World War I (July 31, 1914), but it partially re-opened on November 28 of that year in order to help the war effort by trading bonds, and completely reopened for stock trading in mid-December.

On September 16, 1920, a bomb exploded on Wall Street outside the NYSE building, killing 33 people and injuring more than 400. The perpetrators were never found. The NYSE building and some buildings nearby, such as the JP Morgan building, still have marks on their façades caused by the bombing.

The Black Thursday crash of the Exchange on October 24, 1929, and the sell-off panic which started on Black Tuesday, October 29, are often blamed for precipitating the Great Depression of 1929. In an effort to try to restore investor confidence, the Exchange unveiled a fifteen-point program aimed to upgrade protection for the investing public on October 31, 1938.

On October 1, 1934, the exchange was registered as a national securities exchange with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, with a president and a thirty-three member board. On February 18, 1971 the non-profit corporation was formed, and the number of board members was reduced to twenty-five.

One of Abbie Hoffman's well-known publicity stunts took place in 1967, when he led members of the Yippie movement to the Exchange's gallery. The provocateurs hurled fistfuls of real dollars mixed with fake dollars toward the trading floor below. Some traders booed, and some collected the apparent bounty.^{[citation needed]} The press was quick to respond and, by evening, the event had been reported around the world.^{[citation needed]} (The stock exchange later spent $20,000 to enclose the gallery with bulletproof glass.)^{[citation needed]} Hoffman wrote a decade later, "We didn’t call the press; at that time we really had no notion of anything called a media event."^[13]

NYSE's stock exchange traders floor before the introduction of electronic readouts and computer screens.

On October 19, 1987, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) dropped 508 points, a 22.6% loss in a single day, the second-biggest one-day drop the exchange had experienced, prompting officials at the exchange to invoke for the first time the "circuit breaker" rule to halt all trading. This was a very controversial move and led to a quick change in the rule; trading now halts for an hour, two hours, or the rest of the day when the DJIA drops 10, 20, or 30 percent, respectively. The rationale behind the trading halt was to give investors a chance to cool off and reevaluate their positions. Black Monday was followed by Terrible Tuesday, a day in which the Exchange's systems did not perform well and some people had difficulty completing their trades.

Consequently,^[vague] there was another major drop for the Dow on October 13, 1989; the Mini-Crash of 1989. The crash was apparently caused by a reaction to a news story of a $6.75 billion leveraged buyout deal for UAL Corporation, the parent company of United Airlines, which broke down. When the UAL deal fell through, it helped trigger the collapse of the junk bond market causing the Dow to fall 190.58 points, or 6.91 percent.

Similarly, there was a panic in the financial world during the year of 1997; the Asian Financial Crisis. Like the fall of many foreign markets, the Dow suffered a 7.18% drop in value (554.26 points) on October 27, 1997, in what later became known as the 1997 Mini-Crash but from which the DJIA recovered quickly.

On January 26, 2000, an altercation during filming of the music video for "Sleep Now in the Fire", which was directed by Michael Moore, caused the doors of the exchange to be closed and the band, Rage Against the Machine, to be escorted from the site by security,^[14] after band members attempted to gain entry into the exchange.^[15] Trading on the exchange floor, however, continued uninterrupted.^[16]

On May 6, 2010, the Dow Jones Industrial Average posted its largest intraday percentage drop since the October 19, 1987 crash, with a 998 point loss later being called the Flash Crash (As the drop occurred in minutes before rebounding). The SEC and CFTC published a report on the event, although it did not come to a conclusion as to the cause. The regulators found no evidence that the fall was caused by erroneous ("fat finger") orders.^[17]

Trading[link]

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Donald L. Evans rings the opening bell at the NYSE on April 23, 2003. Former chairman Jack Womack is also in this picture.

NASA astronauts Scott Altman and Mike Massimino ring 'The Closing Bell'.

The NYSE trading floor in August 2008.

The New York Stock Exchange (sometimes referred to as "the Big Board") provides a means for buyers and sellers to trade shares of stock in companies registered for public trading. The NYSE is open for trading Monday through Friday from 9:30 am – 4:00 pm ET, with the exception of holidays declared by the Exchange in advance.

On the trading floor, the NYSE trades in a continuous auction format, where traders can execute stock transactions on behalf of investors. They will gather around the appropriate post where a specialist broker, who is employed by an NYSE member firm (that is, he/she is not an employee of the New York Stock Exchange), acts as an auctioneer in an open outcry auction market environment to bring buyers and sellers together and to manage the actual auction. They do on occasion (approximately 10% of the time) facilitate the trades by committing their own capital and as a matter of course disseminate information to the crowd that helps to bring buyers and sellers together. The auction process moved toward automation in 1995 through the use of wireless hand held computers (HHC). The system enabled traders to receive and execute orders electronically via wireless transmission. On September 25, 1995, NYSE member Michael Einersen, who designed and developed this system, executed 1000 shares of IBM through this HHC ending a 203 year process of paper transactions and ushering in an era of automated trading.

As of January 24, 2007, all NYSE stocks can be traded via its electronic Hybrid Market (except for a small group of very high-priced stocks). Customers can now send orders for immediate electronic execution, or route orders to the floor for trade in the auction market. In the first three months of 2007, in excess of 82% of all order volume was delivered to the floor electronically.^[18] NYSE works with US regulators like the SEC and CFTC to coordinate risk management measures in the electronic trading environment through the implementation of mechanisms like circuit breakers and liquidity replenishment points.^[19]

Until 2005, the right to directly trade shares on the exchange was conferred upon owners of the 1366 "seats". The term comes from the fact that up until the 1870s NYSE members sat in chairs to trade. In 1868, the number of seats was fixed at 533, and this number was increased several times over the years. In 1953, the number of seats was set at 1,366. These seats were a sought-after commodity as they conferred the ability to directly trade stock on the NYSE, and seat holders were commonly referred to as members of the NYSE. The Barnes family is the only known lineage to have five generations of NYSE members: Winthrop H. Barnes (admitted 1894), Richard W.P. Barnes (admitted 1926), Richard S. Barnes (admitted 1951), Robert H. Barnes (admitted 1972), Derek J. Barnes (admitted 2003). Seat prices varied widely over the years, generally falling during recessions and rising during economic expansions. The most expensive inflation-adjusted seat was sold in 1929 for $625,000, which, today, would be over six million dollars. In recent times, seats have sold for as high as $4 million in the late 1990s and as low as $1 million in 2001. In 2005, seat prices shot up to $3.25 million as the exchange entered into an agreement to merge with Archipelago and become a for-profit, publicly traded company. Seat owners received $500,000 in cash per seat and 77,000 shares of the newly formed corporation. The NYSE now sells one-year licenses to trade directly on the exchange. Licences for floor trading are available for $40,000 and a licence for bond trading is available for as little as $1,000 as of 2010.^[20] Neither are resell-able, but may be transferable in during the change of ownership of a cooperation holding a trading licence.

NYSE Composite Index[link]

In the mid-1960s, the NYSE Composite Index (NYSE: NYA) was created, with a base value of 50 points equal to the 1965 yearly close.^[21] This was done to reflect the value of all stocks trading at the exchange instead of just the 30 stocks included in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. To raise the profile of the composite index, in 2003 the NYSE set its new base value of 5,000 points equal to the 2002 yearly close.

Timeline[link]

The NYSE at Christmas time (December 2008)

In 1792, The NYSE acquires its first traded securities.^[22][23] In 1817, The constitution of the New York Stock and Exchange Board is adopted.^[24] In 1867, The First Stock Ticker.^[25] In 1896, Dow Jones Industrial Average first published in The Wall Street Journal.^[25] In 1903, NYSE moves into new quarters at 18 Broad Street. In 1906, Dow exceeds 100 on January 12. In 1907, Panic of 1907. In 1914, World War I causes the longest exchange shutdown: four months, two weeks; re-opening December 12 brings the largest one-day percentage drop in the DJIA (24.4%). In 1915, Market price is given in dollars. In 1929, Central quote system established; Black Thursday, October 24 and Black Tuesday, October 29 signal the end of the Roaring Twenties bull market. In 1943, Trading floor is opened to women.^[26] In 1949, Longest (eight-year) bull market begins.^[27]

In 1954, Dow surpasses its 1929 peak in inflation-adjusted dollars. In 1956, Dow closes above 500 for the first time on March 12. In 1966, the NYSE begins a composite index of all listed common stocks. This is referred to as the "Common Stock Index" and is transmitted daily. The starting point of the index is 50. It is later renamed the NYSE Composite Index.^[28] In 1967, Protesters led by Abbie Hoffman throw mostly fake dollar bills at traders from gallery, leading to the installation of bullet-proof glass. In 1970, Securities Investor Protection Corporation established. In 1971, NYSE recognized as Not-for-Profit organization.^[28] In 1972, Dow closes above 1,000 for the first time on November 14. In 1977, Foreign brokers are admitted to NYSE. In 1980, New York Futures Exchange established. In 1982, Longest bull market in DJIA history begins. In 1987, Black Monday, October 19, sees the second-largest one-day DJIA percentage drop (22.6%) in history. In 1991, Dow exceeds 3,000. In 1995, Dow exceeds 5,000. In 1996, Real-time ticker introduced.^[29] In 1999, Dow exceeds 10,000 on March 29. In 2000, Dow peaks at 11,722.98 on January 14; first NYSE global index is launched under the ticker NYIID.

Security after the September 11 attacks

In 2001, Trading in fractions (n/16) ends, replaced by decimals (increments of $.01, see Decimalization). When the September 11, 2001 attacks occur, the NYSE was closed for 4 sessions. In 2003, NYSE Composite Index relaunched and value set equal to 5,000 points. In 2006, NYSE and ArcaEx merge, creating NYSE Arca and forming the publicly owned, for-profit NYSE Group, Inc.; in turn, NYSE Group merges with Euronext, creating the first trans-Atlantic stock exchange group; DJIA tops 12,000 on October 19. In 2007, US President George W. Bush shows up unannounced to the Floor about an hour and a half before a Federal Open Market Committee interest-rate decision on January 31.^[30] NYSE announces its merger with the American Stock Exchange; NYSE Composite closes above 10,000 on June 1; DJIA exceeds 14,000 on July 19 and closes at an all time peak of 14,164.53 on October 9. This was the peak before the 2008–2009 bust.

On September 15, 2008, the DJIA loses more than 500 points amid fears of bank failures, resulting in a permanent prohibition of naked short selling and a three-week temporary ban on all short selling of financial stocks; in spite of this, record volatility continues for the next two months, culminating at 5½-year market lows. In 2009, Dow closes at 6547.05 on March 9 reaching a 12 year low. Returns to 10,015.86 on October 14.

Derailed planned merger with Deutsche Börse[link]

On February 15, 2011 NYSE and Deutsche Börse announced their merger to form a new company, as yet unnamed, wherein Deutsche Börse shareholders will have 60% ownership of the new entity, and NYSE Euronext shareholders will have 40%.

On February 1, 2012, the European Commission blocked the merger of NYSE with Deutsche Börse, after commissioner Joaquin Almunia stated that the merger "would have led to a near-monopoly in European financial derivatives worldwide".^[31] Instead, Deutsche Börse and NYSE will have to sell either their Eurex derivatives or LIFFE shares in order to not create a monopoly.

On February 2, 2012, NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Börse agreed with strong opposition by the EU for the planned merger, to scrap the merger.^[32]

Trading schedule[link]

Regular trading hours are from 9:30 am to 4:00 pm.

See also[link]

New York City portal

• Economy of New York City
• List of American stock exchanges
• List of presidents of the New York Stock Exchange
• U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
• List of market opening times

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Buck, James E. (1992). The New York Stock Exchange: The First 200 Years. Greenwich Pub. Group. ISBN 0-944641-02-4. 
• Geisst, Charles R. (2004). Wall Street: A History – From its Beginnings to the Fall of Enron. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-517060-1. 
• Kent, Zachary (1990). The Story of the New York Stock Exchange. Scholastic Library Pub.. ISBN 0-516-04748-5. 
• Sloane, Leonard (1980). The Anatomy of the Floor. Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-12249-7. 
• Sobel, Robert (1975). N.Y.S.E.: A History of the New York Stock Exchange, 1935–1975. Weybright and Talley. ISBN 0-679-40124-5. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: New York Stock Exchange

• Official website
• List of planned and unplanned historical closings
• Price of membership and a seat
• New York Stock Exchange collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• The New York Stock Exchange Began in a Coffe Shop

v t e NYSE Euronext, Inc. A member of the World Federation of Exchanges. Securities New York Stock Exchange · American Stock Exchange · NYSE Arca Euronext Futures Euronext.liffe Other Alternext · BlueNext · Qatar Exchange (20% holding) Locations United States: New York City (NYSE · AMEX), Chicago (Arca) France: Paris Belgium: Brussels Netherlands: Amsterdam Portugal: Lisbon United Kingdom: London Indexes New York: NYSE Composite · Dow Jones Industrial Average · S&P 500 Euronext: Euronext 100 · AEX index · CAC 40 · Euro Stoxx 50 · BEL20 Miscellaneous NYSE Technologies · Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Annual revenue USD 4.425 billion (2010) Employees 2,970 Stock symbol NYSE: NYX, Euronext: NYX Website NYSE Euronext Portal

v t e U.S. National Register of Historic Places in New York Lists by county Albany Allegany Bronx Broome Cattaraugus Cayuga Chautauqua Chemung Chenango Clinton Columbia Cortland Delaware Dutchess Erie Essex Franklin Fulton Genesee Greene Hamilton Herkimer Jefferson Kings (Brooklyn) Lewis Livingston Madison Monroe Montgomery Nassau New York (Manhattan) Niagara Oneida Onondaga Ontario Orange Orleans Oswego Otsego Putnam Queens Rensselaer Richmond (Staten Island) Rockland Saratoga Schenectady Schoharie Schuyler Seneca St. Lawrence Steuben Suffolk Sullivan Tioga Tompkins Ulster Warren Washington Wayne Westchester Wyoming Yates Lists by city Albany Buffalo New Rochelle New York City (Bronx Brooklyn Queens Staten Island Manhattan: Below 14th St. 14th–59th St. 59th–110th St. Above 110th St. Minor islands) Peekskill Poughkeepsie Rhinebeck Rochester Syracuse Yonkers Other lists Bridges National Historic Landmarks Keeper of the Register History of the National Register of Historic Places Property types Historic district Contributing property

Look up bad news in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Bad news may refer to:

• Bad News, a spoof rock band
  • Bad News (Bad News album), 1987 album by Bad News
• Bad News (Ligeia album), the second album by Massachusetts' metalcore band Ligeia
• "Bad News", a song by Johnny Cash from the I Walk the Line album
• Bad News (magazine), a comics magazine published in the early 1980s by Fantagraphics
• Bad News (How I Met Your Mother)

See also[link]

• Good news (disambiguation)

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Ashton Kutcher
Ashton Kutcher, September 2008
Born	Christopher Ashton Kutcher (1978-02-07) February 7, 1978 (age 34) Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Occupation	Actor, producer, former fashion model, comedian, television host
Years active	1998–present
Spouse	Demi Moore (m. 2005–present; divorce filed)

Christopher Ashton Kutcher (/ˈkʊtʃər/; born February 7, 1978),^[1] best known as Ashton Kutcher, is an American actor, producer, former fashion model, and comedian, known for his portrayal of Michael Kelso in the Fox sitcom That '70s Show. He also created, produced and hosted Punk'd, and played lead roles in the Hollywood films Dude, Where's My Car?, Just Married, The Butterfly Effect, The Guardian, and What Happens in Vegas. He is also the producer and co-creator of the supernatural TV show Room 401 and the reality TV show Beauty and the Geek. Kutcher currently co-stars in the hit CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men as the character Walden Schmidt.

Early life[link]

Kutcher was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He is the son of Diane (née Finnegan), a Procter & Gamble employee, and Larry M. Kutcher, a factory worker.^[2][3] His father is of Bohemian (Czech) descent and his mother is of Irish, German, and Bohemian ancestry.^[4][5] Kutcher was raised in a conservative Roman Catholic family,^[6] with an older sister, Tausha, and a fraternal twin, Michael, who had a heart transplant when the brothers were young children. Kutcher's twin brother also has cerebral palsy and is a spokesperson for the advocacy organization Reaching for the Stars.^[7]

Kutcher's brother's cardiomyopathy caused his home life to become increasingly stressful. He has stated that "I didn't want to come home and find more bad news about my brother" and "kept myself so busy that I didn't allow myself to feel".^[8] Kutcher stated that during adolescence, he contemplated committing suicide. At thirteen, he attempted to jump from a Cedar Rapids hospital balcony, with his father intervening in the incident.^[9] Kutcher attended Washington High School in Cedar Rapids for his freshman year, before his family moved to Homestead, Iowa, where he attended Clear Creek Amana High School. During high school, he developed a passion for acting and appeared in school plays.^[10] However, Kutcher's home life worsened as his parents divorced when he was sixteen. During his senior year, he broke into his high school at midnight with his cousin in an attempt to steal money; he was arrested leaving the scene. Kutcher was convicted of third-degree burglary and sentenced to three years' probation and 180 hours of community service. Kutcher stated that although the experience "straightened him out", he lost his girlfriend and anticipated college scholarships, and he was ostracized at school and in his community.^[10]

Kutcher enrolled at the University of Iowa in August 1996, where his planned major was biochemical engineering, motivated by the desire to find a cure for his brother's heart ailment.^[3] At college, Kutcher was kicked out of his apartment for being too "noisy" and "wild".^[11] Kutcher stated, "I thought I knew everything but I didn't have a clue. I was partying, and I woke up many mornings not knowing what I had done the night before. I played way too hard. I am amazed I am not dead."^[12] To earn money for his tuition, Kutcher worked as a college summer hire in the cereal department for the General Mills plant in Cedar Rapids, and sometimes donated blood for money.^[13] During his time at UI he was approached by a scout at a bar called "The Airliner" in Iowa City and was recruited to enter the "Fresh Faces of Iowa" modeling competition. After placing first, he dropped out of college and won a trip to New York City to the International Modeling and Talent Association (IMTA) Convention. Following his stay in New York City, Kutcher returned to Cedar Rapids before relocating to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting.^[11]

Career[link]

Modeling career[link]

After participating as a modeling contestant in an IMTA competition (losing to Josh Duhamel) in 1998, Kutcher signed with the Next modeling agency in New York, appeared in ads for Calvin Klein, and modeled in Paris and Milan.^{[citation needed]}

Television and film career[link]

Kutcher with Two and a Half Men co-star Jon Cryer in September 2011

After some success in modeling, Kutcher moved to Los Angeles and, after his first audition,^{[citation needed]} was cast as Michael Kelso in the television series That '70s Show, which debuted in 1998 and ended in 2006. Kutcher was cast in a series of film roles; although he auditioned but was not cast for the role of Danny Walker in Pearl Harbor (2001) (the role went to Josh Hartnett), he starred in several comedy films, including Dude, Where's My Car? (2000), Just Married (2003), and Guess Who (2005). He appeared in the 2003 family film, Cheaper By The Dozen, playing a self-obsessed actor. His 2004 film The Butterfly Effect was a dramatic role for Kutcher, playing a conflicted young man who time travels; the film received mixed to negative reviews, but was a box office success.^[10]

In 2003, Kutcher produced and starred in his own series, MTV's Punk'd, as the host. The series involved hidden camera tricks performed on celebrities. Kutcher is also an executive producer of the reality television shows Beauty and the Geek, Adventures in Hollyhood (based around the rap group Three 6 Mafia), The Real Wedding Crashers, and the game show Opportunity Knocks. Many of his production credits, including Punk'd, come through Katalyst Films, a production company he runs with partner Jason Goldberg.^[14] In 2006, People magazine ranked him third in its annual list of "The Sexiest Men Alive".^[15]

Because of scheduling conflicts with the filming of The Guardian, Kutcher was forced not to renew his contract for the eighth and final season of That 70s Show, although he did appear in the first four episodes of it (credited as a special guest star) and returned for the series finale.^[10]

Kutcher produced and starred in the 2010 action comedy, Killers, in which he played a hitman.^[16]

In May 2011, Kutcher was announced as Charlie Sheen's replacement on the series Two and a Half Men.^[17] Kutcher's contract was for one year and was believed to be worth nearly $20 million.^[18] His debut as the character Walden Schmidt, entitled "Nice to Meet You, Walden Schmidt", was seen by 28.7 million people on September 19, 2011. The Nielsen ratings company reported that figure was more than any episode in the show's first eight seasons, when Sheen starred in it.^[19][20]

Other work[link]

Kutcher was part of the management team for Ooma, a tech start-up launched in September 2007. Ooma is in the Voice over Internet Protocol business and Kutcher's role was as Creative Director. He spearheaded a marketing campaign and produced viral videos to promote this service. Kutcher also created an interactive arm of Katalyst called Katalyst Media, with his partner from Katalyst Films, Jason Goldberg. Their first site was the animated cartoon Blah Girls. Ooma revamped its sales and marketing strategy with a new management team in the summer of 2008, replacing Kutcher as their creative director. Rich Buchanan, from Sling Media, became Ooma's Chief Marketing Officer.

Kutcher appears in advertisements for Nikon cameras.

On March 23, 2011, Kutcher launched his own Twitter client with UberMedia, called A.plus. While the app was initially available exclusively for desktop computers with Adobe Air installed, it eventually became available on mobile platforms, for iPhone, Android, and BlackBerry. In order to download on one of the 3 mobile platforms, users must first have the UberSocial client installed on their device, and then proceed to the device's browser to download A.plus.^[21][22]

In July 2011, Brazilian fashion label Colcci hired Kutcher and Alessandra Ambrosio to feature in a denim advertisement.^[23]

Personal life[link]

Kutcher and Moore, September 2008

In 2003, Kutcher began dating actress Demi Moore. Moore and Kutcher married on September 24, 2005,^[24] in a private ceremony conducted by a Rabbi of the Kabbalah Center; the wedding was attended by about 150 close friends and family of the couple, including Bruce Willis, Moore's ex-husband.^[25] In October 2010, Kutcher and Moore met with co-director of the Kabbalah Center Rabbi Yehuda Berg in Israel.^[26] On November 17, 2011, Moore released a statement announcing her intention to divorce Kutcher.^[27] The announcement followed weeks of media speculation about the state of the couple's marriage.^[28]

Kutcher has invested in an Italian restaurant, Dolce^[10] (other owners include Danny Masterson and Wilmer Valderrama) and a Japanese-themed restaurant named Geisha House located in Atlanta, Los Angeles and New York.

Kutcher is a self-described fiscal conservative and social liberal.^[29] He is a student of Kabbalah; his No Strings Attached co-star, Natalie Portman, stated in 2011 that Kutcher "has taught me more about Judaism than I think I have ever learned from anyone else".^[30]

On September 17, 2008, Kutcher was named the assistant coach for the freshman football team at Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles. However, he was unable to return in 2009 because he was filming Spread.^[31][32]

In February 2011, Kutcher sold his Hollywood Hills home, which he originally bought in 2004.^[33]

In April 2012, Ashton Kutcher became the 500th paying customer to sign up to ride Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo.^[34]

Twitter presence[link]

On April 16, 2009, Kutcher became the first user of Twitter to have more than 1,000,000 followers,^[35] beating CNN in the "Million followers contest".^[36][37][38] Kutcher announced via Twitter that he would be donating $100,000 to a charity to fight malaria. However, there have been several reports that Twitter manipulated the contest's results by preventing users from "unfollowing" Kutcher or CNN.^[39]

Controversy[link]

In April 2011, Kutcher and wife Demi Moore began a public service announcement campaign claiming that "Real Men" do not engage the services of child prostitutes who are the victims of human trafficking.^[40] Kutcher's claims that 100,000 to 300,000 American children were sold into sexual slavery were criticized by newspaper the Village Voice, which gave evidence refuting the claims. Kutcher represented a study referring to minors 'at risk' for sexual exploitation as referring to children actually being prostituted. Experts estimate the true numbers to be in the hundreds, not the hundreds of thousands.^[41] Kutcher reacted to the criticism by accusing the Village Voice of promoting child prostitution and using Twitter to request that Village Voice advertisers including American Airlines, Disney, the City of Seattle, and Domino's Pizza withdraw their advertising from publications owned by the parent company of the Village Voice.^[42][43]

Filmography[link]

Television[link]

As a producer[link]

Awards[link]

• Young Artist Award
  • 1999 – Best Performance in a TV Series – Young Ensemble for That '70 Show (shared with Topher Grace, Laura Prepon, Mila Kunis, Wilmer Valderrama and Danny Masterson)- Nominated
• Kid's Choice Awards
  • 2004 – Favorite Movie Actor for Just Married, My Boss's Daughter and Cheaper by the Dozen – Nominated
  • 2004 – Favorite Television Actor for That '70s Show and Punk'd – Winner
  • 2005 – Favorite TV Actor for That '70s Show and Punk'd – Nominated
  • 2006 – Favorite TV Actor for That '70s Show – Nominated
  • 2007 – Favorite Voice in a Cartoon for Open Season – Nominated
• People's Choice Awards
  • 2010 – Favorite Web Celeb – Winner
• Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award
  • 2000 – Sierra Award Best Male Newcomer for Dude, Where's My Car? – Nominated
• MTV Movie Awards
  • 2001 – Breakthrough Male Performance for Dude, Where's My Car? – Nominated
  • 2011 – Best Comedic Performance for No Strings Attached – Nominated
• Teen Choice Awards
  • 2003 – Choice Reality Hunk for Punk'd – Winner
  • 2003 – Choice TV Reality/Variety Host for Punk'd- Winner
  • 2003 – Choice TV Actor – Comedy for That '70s Show – Winner
  • 2004 – Choice TV Personality – Winner
  • 2004 – Choice Reality/Variety TV Star – Male for Punk'd – Winner
  • 2004 – Choice TV Actor – Comedy for That '70s Show – Winner
  • 2004 – Choice Movie Hissy Fit for Cheaper by the Dozen – Nominated
  • 2004 – Choice Movie Liplock Cheaper by the Dozen (shared with Piper Perabo) – Nominated
  • 2005 – Choice: TV Male Personality for Punk'd – Winner
  • 2005 – Choice TV Actor: Comedy for That '70s Show – Winner
  • 2005 – Choice Movie Actor: Comedy for Guess Who and A Lot Like Love – Nominated
  • 2005 – Choice Movie Rockstar Moment for A Lot Like Love – Winner
  • 2007 – Choice Movie Actor: Drama for The Guardian – Nominated
  • 2008 – Choice: Movie Actor Romantic Comedy for What Happens In Vegas – Winner
  • 2010 – Choice: Movie Actor Romantic Comedy for Valentine's Day – Winner
  • 2011 – Choice: Movie Actor Romantic Comedy for No Strings Attached – Winner
  • 2012 - Choice TV Actor: Comedy for Two and a Half Men - Pending
• Golden Raspberry Awards
  • 2003 – Razzie Award for Worst Screen Couple for Just Married (shared with Brittany Murphy) and My boss's Daughter (shared with Tara Reid) – Nominated
  • 2004 – Razzie Award for Worst Actor for Cheaper By The Dozen, Just Married and My Boss's Daughter – Nominated
  • 2010 – Razzie Award for Worst Actor for Killers – Winner