A woman will lead the New York Stock Exchange for the first time in its 226-year history

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NEW YORK - MARCH 17: Traders work the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on March 17, 2008 in New York City. Stocks have been volatile on Wall Street following news of JP Morgan Chase acquisition of Bear, Stearns & Co, for $2 a share, with help of $30 billion in financing of Bear, Stearns assets from the U.S. Federal Reserve. (Photo by Michael Nagle/Getty Images)

• The NYSE has named Stacey Cunningham as the successor of president Tom Farley, a spokeswoman told Business Insider.
• Farley is leaving the exchange to lead a venture backed by Daniel Loeb's hedge fund, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

The parent company of the New York Stock Exchange has named a new president to lead the iconic Wall Street institution, a spokeswoman confirmed to Business Insider.

Stacey Cunningham, the chief operating officer of the NYSE, is set to become the president of the exchange venue, which is owned by Atlanta-based Intercontinental Exchange. She will be the exchange's first female president since its founding over 200 years ago.

Cunningham is replacing Tom Farley on Friday, who has served as the president of NYSE since 2014. Farley was the youngest person to head the exchange. John Tuttle, the head of listings at NYSE, is replacing Cunningham, according to a spokeswoman.

Farley is joining a firm backed by Third Point, the hedge fund founded by Daniel Loeb, according to The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the executive shakeup.

Cunningham has been with NYSE since 2012. She joined the exchange from cross-town rival Nasdaq.

Notably, Nasdaq named Adena Friedman as its chief executive officer in 2017. That made her the first female to lead a global exchange.

As noted by the Wall Street Journal, the appointment of Cunningham follows the rise of the #MeToo movement on Wall Street and the announcement that the "Fearless Girl" statue, a symbol of feminism, will be relocated in front of the exchange.