Growth
September 16, 2025
Union Pacific ‘Rings the Bell’ to Celebrate 155 Years on the New York Stock Exchange
Surrounded by members of his senior leadership team and standing on the business world’s most famous dais, Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena slammed the gavel down three times Monday at the New York Stock Exchange’s (NYSE) closing bell ceremony – marking the end of the trading day and celebrating Union Pacific’s incredible 155-year history as a publicly traded company.
For more than a century and a half, Union Pacific’s stock has been bought and sold on the open market as the company expanded and evolved to meet the economic demands of the nation, including the industrial revolution of the late 1800s, the post-World War II boom, and the age of globalization and intermodal markets.
“Today, we honor our history and the railroaders who came before us who had the tenacity and foresight to not only weather changing markets and business landscapes, but to embrace what is possible. You don’t get to the ripe old age of 163 years – 155 of those on the open market – by standing still,” Vena said.
The closing bell ceremony is one of the most familiar images at the NYSE, with selected companies given the honor of ringing the electric bell for about 10 seconds and heralding the end of the trading day at 4 p.m. EST.
Union Pacific’s NYSE credentials are impressive. The company is the largest-listed railroad on the exchange, and its fifth longest-listed company. Only four other companies have been trading stock longer on the exchange: Consolidated Edison, Inc. (originally New York Gas Light Company), 1823; The Western Union Company, 1865; the Adams Fund (as Adams Express Company), 1867; and the American Express Company, 1867.
Union Pacific applied to list its capital stock – 367,450 shares – eight years after its founding by President Abraham Lincoln. The building of the transcontinental railroad and 19th century industrial growth required large investments of capital from public markets, with railroad construction fueling a stock market boom that dominated Wall Street.
In the beginning, it operated as the Union Pacific Railroad Company, and its first ticker symbols were U and UP. It sold 100 shares its first day on the market – Sept. 15, 1870 – with a high of $26.
In 1969, Union Pacific reorganized to better meet market demands, forming a new holding company: Union Pacific Corporation. The stock began trading under the new ticker symbol and the symbol still used today: UNP. It recorded a high of $44 on its first day as UNP.
“The New York Stock Exchange is the world’s largest and most influential marketplace for trading stocks and raising capital. Today was a great honor that reinforces our commitment to growing our company and creating transportation opportunities for our customers for another 155 years,” Vena said.