“Know that Texas today is the epicenter of the global financial markets.”

Lynn Martin
President,
NYSE Group
… speaking at the launch of NYSE Texas at AT&T Stadium on August 20.

Texas just scored a financial touchdown at the 50-yard line.

Governor Greg Abbott rang Wednesday’s NYSE closing bell from “Y’all Street” with NYSE Group’s Lynn Martin, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, AT&T’s John Stankey, and other stakeholders at his side. The sound that ended trading for global markets came from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, marking the launch of NYSE Texas (NYSE: ICE), the first exchange ever incorporated in the Lone Star State.

Flanked by Cowboys cheerleaders and later joined by hundreds of business leaders, the New York Stock Exchange welcomed executives and founding members of NYSE Texas to the field at AT&T Stadium on August 20, 2025, to celebrate the launch of the exchange. [Photo: NYSE]

Martin, president of the 232-year-old New York Stock Exchange, wasn’t just being polite to the home crowd when she made her earlier declaration. With more than 200 NYSE-listed companies representing $4 trillion in market cap, Texas now leads every state in the nation—including New York.

“It’s the only word we can use—we’re thankful for your business,” Martin told the 49 founding members who have already joined NYSE Texas. “It pushes us to do our jobs every day, to be the North Star—no pun intended, since we are a little bit further north of you in New York.”

Governor Abbott spelled it out: “There’s a new phrase, not just in the streets of Texas—a new phrase expanding across America and literally across the globe—Y’all Street,” he said. “Y’all Street is now expanding and the roots are right here in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. This is the home of the economy.”

NYSE Texas officially opened for business in March 2025, after the NYSE rebranded its Chicago electronic exchange and moved it to Dallas, now headquartered at Old Parkland. Since then, several DFW and Texas-based companies have joined as founding or dual-listed members, including AT&T, Atlas Energy Solutions, Cinemark, D.R. Horton, Globe Life, Halliburton, and Invitation Homes. The first listing on the exchange was Trump Media & Technology Group.

The March rebrand put NYSE Texas on the books. But the closing-bell ceremony gave it a Texas stamp, with Abbott pointing to the state’s financial muscle, including No. 1 rankings for job creation, economic development, and financial-sector employment. He also highlighted what he called a new constitutional ban on financial transaction taxes, such as stock trades—pending voter approval in November—that would join the state’s existing prohibition on personal income taxes.

“We’ve got to keep our vision going forward,” he continued. “Vision going forward requires us to pass policies that will continue to attract and grow businesses here in the state.”

Before ringing the bell, Abbott declared Texas the “home of financial exchanges, going forward.” On that day, the “epicenter” was wearing cowboy boots.

The story was updated with additional photos and information on founding members on August 21, 2025.

For more of who said what about all things North Texas, check out Every Last Word.

Don’t miss what’s next. Subscribe to Dallas Innovates.

Track Dallas-Fort Worth’s business and innovation landscape with our curated news in your inbox Tuesday-Thursday.