J.C. Bradford & Co. was a Nashville-based investment banking and brokerage firm founded by James Cowdon Bradford Sr. in 1927. The firm was the first from Nashville to buy a seat on the New York Stock Exchange. The firm was acquired by PaineWebber in April 2000 for $620 million to gain access to its network of 900 brokers. Just a month after the acquisition of the firm closed, PaineWebber announced the closure of the investment banking unit of J.C. Bradford & Co. in May 2000. Immediately subsequent to this, PaineWebber was acquired by Swiss banking firm UBS AG.