# Quotron

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American financial data technology company

Quotron II Desk Unit

**Quotron** was a [Los Angeles](/source/Los_Angeles)–based company that in 1960 became the first [financial data](/source/Market_data) technology company to deliver stock market quotes to an electronic screen rather than on a printed [ticker tape](/source/Ticker_tape). The Quotron offered [brokers](/source/Brokerage_firm) and money managers up-to-the-minute prices and other information about [securities](/source/Securities).[1] The Quotron was developed by Scantlin Electronics, owned by entrepreneur John Scantlin. Scantlin had earlier developed a quotation device that used magnetic tape instead of [ticker tape](/source/Ticker_tape).[2] Quotron's first major competitor was [Telerate](/source/Telerate), which was founded by [Neil Hirsch](/source/Neil_Hirsch) in 1969 and later bought by [Dow Jones](/source/Dow_Jones_%26_Company) in 1990.[3]

[Citicorp](/source/Citibank) bought Quotron in 1986. At the time Quotron was renting 100,000 terminals which equated to 60 percent of the 1986 market for [financial data](/source/Financial_data_vendors).[4] Following the Citicorp acquisition, Quotron's largest client, brokerage house [Merrill Lynch](/source/Merrill_Lynch), decided not to renew their contract with Quotron. Merrill Lynch instead invested in a competing startup named [Bloomberg](/source/Bloomberg_Terminal).

Most computer screens in the 1980s were able to display text in a single color. Quotron screens had green text on a black background. The Quotron was the screen used by [Charlie Sheen](/source/Charlie_Sheen)'s Bud Fox and [Michael Douglas](/source/Michael_Douglas)'s [Gordon Gekko](/source/Gordon_Gekko) characters in the 1987 movie [Wall Street](/source/Wall_Street_(1987_film)).[5] When the Bloomberg professional terminal launched for bond traders it had amber text on a black background.

Quotron did not keep pace with developments in technology and the company was slow to move from a dedicated terminal to personal computers, as the proprietary [Bloomberg Terminal](/source/Bloomberg_Terminal) overtook its market share. By 1994 Quotron had only 35,000 terminals compared with 80,000 for [Automatic Data Processing](/source/Automatic_Data_Processing) and 25,000 for ILX, according to Waters Information Services. Citicorp lost money on Quotron every year and, in 1994, paid Reuters Holdings P.L.C. more than $100 million to purchase the ailing Quotron. Quotron then became Reuters' trading floor terminal, until it was superseded by the [Reuters 3000 Xtra](/source/Reuters_3000_Xtra) and Triarch platform. Thomson Reuters and Bloomberg lead the trading floor terminal space today with 70% of the market.[1]In early 2023, Quotron has been revitalized by a group of tech entrepreneurs that have started developing modern stock tickers for individuals traders.[6]

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-nytimes_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-nytimes_1-1) ["QUOTRON EXPECTS BOARD TO REJECT CITICORP BID - NYTimes.com"](https://www.nytimes.com/1986/03/28/business/quotron-expects-board-to-reject-citicorp-bid.html). *nytimes.com*. March 28, 1986. Retrieved 15 January 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Germany128_2-0)** Germany, Lisa (2012). *Houses of the Sundown Sea*. Abrams. p. 128. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781419700491](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781419700491).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-forbes_3-0)** ["A Pioneer's Perspective - Forbes"](https://www.forbes.com/2000/12/28/1228netcents.html). *forbes.com*. Retrieved 2014-04-04.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-nytimes2_4-0)** ["Citicorp Passes Off Quotron, Predicts Big Quarterly Profit - New York Times"](https://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/14/business/citicorp-passes-off-quotron-predicts-big-quarterly-profit.html). *nytimes.com*. Retrieved 15 January 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-blogspot_5-0)** ["Photograph"](https://3.bp.blogspot.com/_TwWmkJ-Q9RY/TNVn2d0iWlI/AAAAAAAAAsY/Up4OLfx--Bc/s400/quotron+charlie.jpg). 3.bp.blogspot.com. Retrieved 15 January 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["quotron"](https://quotron.co/). *quotron.co*. Retrieved 2024-04-19.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Quotron](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quotron) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quotron?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.