The 10 Most Powerful Women On Wall Street in 2016

They have prestige, power, high self-esteem. Women hungry for success, facing everyday challenges in the cold world of Wall Street. More and more females are driven by their ambitions and want to succeed in a world of business and finance.

Looking at their portfolios and achievements, one wonders how they can do it. Besides their career, they have families and a private life; yet they are still able to run three companies and master their positions as CEOs. And we are not talking about some unknown names. Businesses such as Bank of America, The Goldman Sachs Group, and JPMorgan Chase, that are making billions of dollars annually.

You can find here individuals from all walks of life. Women who were growing up hearing about shares and stocks as a story for a good night, or women from completely average families. Each of them is unique and highly respected for different accomplishments and dedication to their work. If you are willing to make a phone call to your business partners while you are giving birth to your first child, as Ruth Porat once did, then you can deal practically with anything.

Let’s take a look at 10 of the most influential women on Wall Street.

10. Sallie Krawcheck

Sallie is the co-founder and CEO of Ellevest, a digital investment platform for women, which is about to be launched this year. In the past, she was a president of the Global Wealth and Investment Management division of Bank of America. She is recognized as one of the most senior women on Wall Street. Her name is well known among Wall Street sharks and on social media as well. The high rate of followers on Twitter and Linkedin earned her the title as one of the most followed “Thought Leaders.”

9. Jane Fraser

Mrs. Fraser is a CEO of Citigroup Latin America, and she’s responsible for 23 countries including Mexico. According to American Banker, she is the number 1 “Woman to Watch” in 2014 and 2015. Last year she was ranked as number 41 on Fortune’s list of the “51 Most Powerful Women in Business”. In 2009, she took over a global private bank which was at that time losing roughly $250 million. By the time she left the post in 2013, it was generating significant profit. She holds an MBA from Harvard University where she graduated in 1994.

8. Barbara Byrne

You are looking at the number 3 “Most Powerful Woman in Finance”. Barbara Byrne holds the position of Vice President at Barclays, the British multinational banking and financial services company. Like some other prominent females on Wall Street, Byrne has a huge passion for helping women in their business career. She is the founder of Barclays “Women in Leadership” index, which supports companies with female chief executives or those who have at least 25% of employees that are women. She has invested in a movie called “Equity,” which is made by women and about women on Wall Street.

7. Leda Braga

Mrs. Braga is a CEO and Head of Systematic Trading BlueCrest. Originally from Brazil, Braga is proving that there are no limits when it comes to women and their influence in the tough world of Wall Street. As of February 2016, Lada Braga was managing over $10 billion, making her one of the most influential female hedge fund managers in the world. Her net worth is about $3.5 billion. Her fortune is a result of excellence and dedication in the business environment which is still dominated by men.

6. Alexandra Lebenthal

Also called “The New Queen of Wall Street” is a co-CEO of Lebenthal Holdings. Because of her generous support towards other females who try to succeed on Wall Street, she was named one of the “Top 50 Women in Wealth Management” by Wealth Manager Magazine. If you are interested in investing, then you should grab a copy of her upcoming book “The Women’s Investment Bible,” which is designed to help and teach women how to properly invest. The book should be published this year.

5. Mary Callahan Erdoes

Mary Callahan Erdoes is listed as number 53 on the “Power Women of 2015” list on Forbes for a reason. She studied at Georgetown University and earned her Master of Business Administration from Harvard University where she graduated in 1993. She is a chief executive at JPMorgan Chase. In recent years, Erdoes has created a program designed to help women return to wealth management after they have taken a break from their career life. In her program “Woman On The Move”, she encourages senior women executives all over the world to share their ideas and suggestions with lower-level female employees. The primary purpose of the program is to help women from all walks of life and support them in starting a better career and live higher quality lives.

4. Sonia Gardner

Sonia Gardner is slightly different from other Wall Street women. She grew up in a pretty humble environment. Her mother was a school teacher and her father was a computer programmer. She is part of Her Justice (which is an organization helping victims of domestic violence), 100 Women in Hedge Funds and The Mount Sinai Medical Center. Mrs. Gardner is the President and Co-founder of Avenue Capital Group, with over $12.5 billion in assets. According to Forbes, Sonia Gardner is considered as one of the top self-made female millionaires, with a net worth of $380 million.

3. Abigail Johnson

Have you ever heard about Fidelity, the second largest mutual fund company in the world with $2 trillion in assets? Let me introduce to you their CEO, Abigail Johnson. The net worth of Mrs. Johnson is, according to Forbes, $14.9 billion (yes, you read it right). She graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Hobart and William Smith College in 1984, before earning an MBA from Harvard University.

2. Ruth Porat

Ruth Porat is the Chief Financial Officer at Morgan Stanley, Senior Vice President of Alphabet Inc., and Senior Vice President with Google since May 2015. In 2000, Mrs. Porat took public some of the insanely famous companies in the world like Amazon and Priceline. While breaking the world of business and dealing with the world’s biggest financial challenges, Porat was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2011. Well, this devastating news didn’t stop her.

1. Suzanne Shank

The number 1 place on the list belongs to Suzanne Shank, the first African American woman to lead a publicly traded financial institution. She’s one of the most influential women on Wall Street today. Suzanne earned a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology as well as an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the CEO of Siebert Branford Shank & Co., LLC. and of the Siebert Financial Corporation. Being rewarded for her hard work, Ms. Shank was named “Entrepreneur of the Year” by the National Association of Securities Professionals and “Top 25 Women in Finance” by U.S. Banker Magazine.