Billy Buchanan’s extraordinary successful career in the cotton business was tied intimately with the growth and development of the New York Board of Trade and its predecessor, the New York Cotton Exchange. Born into a family with deep roots in the cotton business, he took control of Dunavant Enterprises in 1961 at the age of 29 and transformed it into a global powerhouse in the buying and selling of cotton. Under his leadership, the Memphis-based company was one of the first to go into forward contracting, whereby a farmer can lock in a price before he plants his cotton. W.B.Dunavant and Company also participated in the first U.S. sale of cotton to Mainland China in November 1972. Dunavant has served on the board of the Nybot and the NYCE for 35 years. Though he stepped down as chief execturive of Dunavant Enterprises in 2005, he remains involved with the company as its chairman and continues to serve on the Nybot’s cotton committee. Dunavant was also mentor to one of the industry’s most successful traders, Paul Tudor Jones.
