Who became the first female CEO of a major Wall Street bank in 2021?

Jane Fraser became the first female CEO of a major Wall Street bank in 2021. She took over as chief executive of Citigroup on March 1, 2021, succeeding Michael Corbat.

Fraser was born in Scotland and joined Citi in 2004 after working at Goldman Sachs and McKinsey. Before becoming CEO, she led Citi’s global consumer banking division and served as the firm’s president. Her appointment was widely viewed as a milestone for gender representation in large-scale American banking.

The wording matters: Fraser was not the first woman to lead any bank. Women had previously headed major financial institutions, including regional banks and investment firms. Fraser’s distinction was leading a major U.S. bank—often described as a megabank or Wall Street bank.

A related milestone came later when other women became prominent leaders at large financial companies. Abigail Johnson, for example, has led Fidelity Investments, but Fidelity is an asset-management company rather than a major commercial bank. Ruth Porat became a major technology-company finance executive, not a bank CEO.