Brandon Lutnick, chairman of Cantor Fitzgerald, has shared personal reflections on the enduring impact of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, coinciding with the firm's marking of 25 years since the loss of 658 of its New York employees.
"I don’t remember 9/11. I was three years old. What I remember is everything that came after," Lutnick wrote in a recent LinkedIn post. His father, Howard Lutnick, then CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, narrowly escaped being in the North Tower of the World Trade Center on that fateful morning because he was dropping off Brandon for his first day of kindergarten. This deviation from his usual routine meant he was not at his office on the 105th floor when American Airlines Flight 11 struck.
The attacks resulted in the deaths of 658 of Cantor Fitzgerald's 960 New York employees, including Howard Lutnick's brother Gary and Brandon's godfather, Doug Gardner. Another 61 employees from Euro Brokers were also killed.
Brandon Lutnick described how the tragedy permeated his childhood, stating, "For most of my childhood, I understood 9/11 before I understood the words for it." The attacks had a devastating impact on Cantor Fitzgerald, which occupied floors 101 through 105 of the North Tower, leading many to believe the firm would collapse. The company was reportedly losing $1 million per day in the aftermath.
In response to the immense loss, Howard Lutnick pledged 25% of the firm's profits for five years and 10 years of health coverage to the families of the employees who died. These commitments totaled approximately $180 million. Cantor Fitzgerald also extended standing employment offers to the children of lost employees, with hundreds having since worked at the firm.
"It was not a strategy. It was our promise, and a lesson in what people can deliver to one another when the unthinkable happens," Brandon Lutnick stated. The firm was able to resume electronic trading within days of the attacks, leveraging its eSpeed platform and support from its London operations. Cantor Fitzgerald later expanded beyond its government-bond brokerage roots, spinning off its voice-brokerage operations into BGC Partners in 2004 and becoming a Federal Reserve primary dealer in 2006.
Brandon Lutnick, who took over as chairman after his father's departure in 2025 to serve as President Trump's commerce secretary, expressed concern that as the attacks move from living memory into history, the human element could be lost. He cautioned against allowing the victims to become "fodder for political fights" and emphasized that "They were not symbols. They were not policy arguments. They were people."
Cantor Fitzgerald continues to commemorate the attacks through an annual Charity Day, dedicating a full day's revenue to charitable causes worldwide in honor of the lost employees. As fewer people remain who personally remember the events of Sept. 11, 2001, Lutnick stressed the importance of preserving the memory and lessons of that day for future generations. "That passage of time is inevitable. Forgetting is not," he concluded. "I don’t remember September 11th. I choose to remember what came after."