Here's to the women they don't teach you about in school.
Abigail Adams
1744 - 1818
Second first lady of the United States, mother of the sixth U.S. president, and first American woman investor.
Abigail Adams, wife of President John Adams, was left to manage the financials of the family farm during the Revolutionary War. Becoming a successful bond speculator, she started to buy and trade government bonds — against the advice of her husband — and ended up amassing quite a fortune. A fortune that upon her deathbed, was left to all women family member and friends.
In addition to expanding the family's wealth, she was an unofficial advisor to Adams on business dealings and advocate for financial independence for married women, especially when it came to investing in real estate.
Hetty Green
1834 - 1916
"The Witch of Wall Street" and "The Queen of Wall Street".
At the time of her death, Hetty Green was the richest woman in the world. Met with the frustrations of withheld inheritance money, she took the wealth she could manage directly and invested in railroads, real estate, and companies only after exhaustive research. She bought stocks when they were low and sold them when they were high. She never borrowed, only loaned out (including a $1 million loan to New York City in 1898). Stories of her unconventional, cold frugality and worn black clothing deemed her "The Witch of Wall Street", but her constant charitable donations and ruling of the male-dominated world is what made her "The Queen". In the end, she grew her fortune to $100 million, the equivalent of $2.5 billion today. She left behind the legacy that a woman could and should learn about bank accounts, mortgages, bonds, and interest rates, and have the tools to succeed as a businesswoman.
As one of the most powerful women in finance, she was called “Mrs. Hetty Green” while her husband was known as "the husband of Hetty Green" — with a prenup of course.
Victoria Woodhull and Tennessee Claflin
1838 - 1927 and 1844 - 1923
First woman stockbrokers.
Victoria Woodhull and Tennessee Claflin broke the gender barrier on Wall Street when they opened the first woman-owned brokerage firm in 1870. Despite enduring blatant sexism and headlines like "Wall Street Aroused" in the New York Times, the sister duo made millions advising elite clients like Cornelius Vanderbilt. But that wasn't all they had on their resumes.
Both were political powerhouses and major players in the suffrage movement. Woodhall made the first recorded run for president as a woman, doing so 50 years before women were legally allowed to vote, while Claflin co-founded their newspaper, the Woodhull & Claflin's Weekly, which covered topics on labor reform and sex education.
“We went unto Wall Street, not particularly because I wanted to be a broker…but because I wanted to plant the flag of women’s rebellion in the center of the continent.”
— Victoria Woodhull
Maggie Lena Walker
1864 - 1934
First woman bank owner and president.
Maggie Lena Walker was the first woman to charter a bank in the U.S. St. Luke's Penny Savings Bank was created with the goal to encourage saving, homeownership, and economic independence among women and Black communities. Up until 2009 when it was bought by Premier Bank, St Luke's was believed to be the oldest continuously Black-owned bank in the U.S.
Her mission and leadership set the standard for community banks today.
Madam C.J. Walker
1867 - 1919
First woman self-made millionaire.
With only $1.05 in savings, Madam C.J. Walker started making hair care products dedicated to Black women who were suffering from hair loss and experiences similar to her own. From there, her miracle product line grew into an empire that employed more than 3,000 people, funded scholarships at Tuskegee Institute, launched sales training programs, donated to the NAACP and other charities, and left her with a net worth of $1 million at the time of her death in 1919.
Muriel "Mickie" Siebert
1928 - 2013
"The First Woman of Finance".
Muriel "Mickie" Siebert got her foot in the door on Wall Street with a little white lie. In the early 1950s, she moved to New York claiming to have a college degree in order to secure her first job as a researcher at Bache & Company. Three different jobs and a decade later, her frustrations at being paid less than the men that were doing the same work as her had reached their breaking point. Turning to good friend and famous investor, Gerald Tsai, Muriel asked him how to find a job that would pay her as much as a man. His answer: Buy a seat on the The New York Stock Exchange. So, that's what she did.
After securing a sponsor for her application (out of ten men she asked, only one agreed to do it) and borrowing $300,000 from Chase Manhattan bank after a two year hunt, Siebert became the first woman to buy a seat on the New York Stock Exchange, making her the only woman member among 1,365 men.
Her many other accomplishments include:
- Founding Muriel Siebert & Company in 1969
- Being named New York's first woman superintendent of banking in 1977.
- Running for Senate in 1982
- Campaigning and succeeding in getting a ladies' bathroom on the 7th floor of the NYSE.
- Founding the Siebert Entrepreneurial Philanthropic Plan in 1990 to help buyers give money to charities.
- Getting inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1994.
- Receiving 17 honorary doctorates
After her death in 2013, the New York Stock Exchange named a room after her. Siebert Hall was the first time a room at the stock exchange had been named after a person.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
1933 - 2020
In the room where decisions were made.
RBG spent a lifetime inspiring young girls and women everywhere, to be a trailblazer in the face of adversity. Fighting tooth and nail against gender-based discrimination was her forte. From a finance perspective, Ginsburg's early work can be thanked for passing the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974. This act meant that women could open their own bank accounts, take out credit cards in their name, and apply for loans and mortgages without needing a male cosigner. This act also makes it illegal for any lender to discriminate against an applicant for reasons of sex, race, color, marital status, age, or religion.
Up until her death in 2020 — the loss felt around the world — RBG fought to progress equal pay and equal rights, and made much of the discrimination she faced throughout her personal and professional life illegal in order to protect all who came after her.
Angela Merkel
1954 - present
"De facto leader of Europe".
The first woman chancellor of Germany is one of the sole reasons the euro survived the financial crisis of 2008. Angela Merkel took point on enacting strict spending policies on indebted countries of southern Europe, while at the same time backing aid and loans for EU member states. She also supported the European Central Bank in buying government bonds and lowering interest rates to zero to allow for economic recovery. Though she ruffled some feathers along the way, Merkel joined the ranks of Forbes Most Powerful People in 2019.
"If the euro fails, then Europe fails."
It was the end of an era this past year for Germany and the rest of the European Union when Merkel stepped down as chancellor after 16 years.
Yie-Hsin Hung
1963 - present
Asset tripler.
After Yie-Hsin Hung took over as CEO in 2015, New York Life Investment Management LLC saw a nearly three-fold increase in third-party assets under management to more than $325 billion today. She did this through organic brand growth, strategic acquisitions, and expanding the company into Europe, Asia, and Australia.
In addition to her work in growing company assets, she works as an advocate for helping women enter the investing realm and achieve their financial goals. That drive to cultivate a more inclusive workplace and industry led to New York Life being named a top 10 workplace for multicultural women by Working Mother in 2019, and No. 1 in 50 Best Companies for Latinas the same year. She continues to be one of the most powerful women in finance and a financial role model for young women across the globe.
Adena Friedman
1969 - present
First woman to lead a global stock exchange.
First joining Nasdaq as an intern in 1993, Adena Freidman climbed the ranks (on and off) until being named president and CEO in 2017. During one of her "off" periods, she worked as the managing director and CFO of the Carlyle Group, who credits her with assisting the company go public in 2012.
Find out how Flagship Bank can help Minnesota entrepreneurs and small business owners join this list of the most powerful women in finance and pave the way towards your own financial freedom.
