NASDAQ no longer "owns" the tech world. I'd say it still has the edge but it's much more balanced now than it used to be. Some notable recent tech IPOs on NYSE: LinkedIn, Pandora, Trulia, RingCentral, Violin Memory, Fusion IO.
Pandora and Zillow just wanted the ego boost from having a single-letter ticker symbol.
Zillow is on NASDAQ. The symbol customs have changed as well. NYSE symbols were typically 1-3 characters while NASDAQ were 4. But of course we know FB and Z are now on NASDAQ (and LNKD on NYSE).
Thanks for the correction.
So I'm curious -- do NYSE and NASDAQ have an agreement not to assign the same ticker?
It really comes down to how good the sales pitch was.