Citigroup Inc (C.N) on Thursday named consumer banking head Jane Fraser to succeed Michael Corbat next year as the bank’s chief executive officer, making her the first woman to lead a major Wall Street bank. Fraser, 53, has been a rising star in the financial industry, with a career that spans investment banking, wealth management, troubled mortgage workouts and strategy in Latin America – a key business for Citigroup. Her promotion to CEO was widely expected since she was elevated to Citigroup president last year, and was celebrated as a step in the right direction for an industry that has few women or diverse executives in its top ranks.
“Great news for the company and for women everywhere!” tweeted Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) operations and technology chief Cathy Bessant. “A big and fantastic moment.” “Jane will become our first female CEO, a point of pride for all of us and groundbreaking for our industry,” Corbat said in an internal memo that was seen by Reuters. Fraser joins a small group of women who have broken through the glass ceiling to reach the C-suite at major financial firms. In addition to Bessant, there is Fidelity Investments CEO Abigail Johnson, JPMorgan’s consumer lending head Marianne Lake and its finance chief Jennifer Piepszak, and Alison Rose, CEO of British bank NatWest.
“I am a working mother. I always joke with my team and say I have three boys at home: I have a 14-year-old, a 16-year-old and a 59 year old,” Fraser said in a speech in 2016. Fraser launched her career as a 20-year-old at Goldman Sachs in its mergers & acquisitions department in London and then worked for Asesores Bursátiles in Madrid. She joined Citigroup 16 years ago and is credited internally with helping the bank recover after the financial crisis, when it had to take $45 billion in taxpayer funds to survive. In October, Fraser was promoted to the role of president and tasked to head its global consumer bank, a move that was widely seen as a precursor to her elevation.
Source: Reuters
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