William Bagley, Beleaguered First CFTC Chairman, Dies at 96 (1)

William T. Bagley, a veteran California legislator who moved to Washington to preside over the chaotic first years of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as its founding chairman, has died. He was 96.

He died on June 9 at his home in San Rafael, California, said his wife, Diane. He had dementia for a number of years, she said.

The acting chairman of the CFTC, Caroline Pham, said in a statement, “Chairman Bagley was instrumental in laying the foundation for what has become the world’s preeminent derivatives regulator.”

William T. Bagley in 2002.

Photographer: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images

Tapped by President Gerald Ford in 1975, Bagley was an ...