Stephen Merkel is Chairman of the Board of Directors of BGC Group, Inc. and is Executive Vice President and General Counsel. He is also on the Board of Directors of BGC Group’s FMX business. Additionally, he is Executive Vice Chairman, Executive Managing Director, and General Counsel for the Cantor Fitzgerald, L.P. group of companies, which includes BGC Group, Inc., Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., and Newmark Group, Inc.
Prior to joining Cantor Fitzgerald in 1993, Mr. Merkel was Vice President and Assistant General Counsel at Goldman Sachs & Co., dedicated to the J. Aron Division. Before that, he was an associate with the law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. He also served as a law clerk for the Honorable Irving R. Kaufman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Mr. Merkel received a Bachelor’s degree with a major in History and Sociology of Science from the University of Pennsylvania and received his law degree from the University of Michigan Law School.
Mr. Merkel is currently on the Board of Trustees for the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and on the Board of Directors of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation. He was a founding member of the Wholesale Markets Brokers’ Association for the Americas. Mr. Merkel lives with his wife, Robin Shanus, and has three adult children, David, Gabe and Leo.
