The previous record sale was $2.65 million in August 1999, when the stock market was booming. Recent prices were $975,000 and 1.6 million.
That 1.6 million sale was after the Archipelago announcement. Since then the price of a seat has risen 85 percent and Archipelago's stock has shot up 138 percent.
While John Thain is calling the merger a "win-win", and it might very well be, one can't help but wonder what happened to that allegation last year that Thain's friend was buying up seats before the merger?
