Meet Jane Fraser, the first woman set to helm a major US bank

Jane Fraser has been at Citi since 2004. She was named as the incoming CEO of the bank on Thursday, following Michael Corbat's retirement in February 2021.

Source: Citi, Business Insider

Fraser, 53, was born in Scotland and earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and a master's in economics from Cambridge.

Source: Barrons, Citi

She started her career working on mergers and acquisitions at Goldman Sachs in London.

Source: Citi

She then worked at McKinsey & Co. from 1994 to 2004, where she eventually became a partner, which is a coveted high-level role. She left to become the head of client strategy at Citi, and has been at the bank since.

Source: Citi, LinkedIn, Business Insider

In the 2010s, she held multiple executive positions within the company, most notably serving as the head of the bank's Latin American operations from 2015 to 2019.

Source: Citi

Fraser told CNN Business in 2018 that when she was first appointed to the head of Latin America role, there was "some pretty negative press" about a "female foreigner with responsibility" in Mexico. She tackled the problem by buying "an elegant dress" and getting a haircut, which made her feel more confident and comfortable in her own skin, she said.

Source: CNN Business, Business Insider

Her resolve and success as woman in banking have not gone unnoticed: American Banker named her the sixth most powerful woman in the field in 2019.

Source: American Banker

She was promoted to president of the bank last fall, marking her as the potential successor to Michael Corbat, who had a 37-year run with Citi and has been the CEO for the past eight years. In her previous role, she oversaw retail banking, wealth management, credit card, and mortgage departments across dozens of countries.

Source: Business Insider

In a Thursday statement announcing his retirement and Fraser's appointment, Corbat, 60, wrote: "I have worked with Jane for many years and am proud to have her succeed me. With her leadership, experience, and values, I know she will make an outstanding CEO."

Source: Citi

Fraser is the first woman to lead a major US bank. "I will do everything I can to make all of our stakeholders proud of our firm as we continue to build a better bank," Fraser wrote in the same press release. "Citi is an incredible institution with a proud history and a bright future."

Source: Citi

Fraser and her husband share two sons, according to her company bio. "Being a mother of young children and having a career is the toughest thing I have ever had to do," Axios reported Fraser had said after leaving McKinsey.

Source: Citi, Axios

On top of juggling work and family, Fraser also serves on the board of dean's advisors to Harvard Business School and is a member of the Economic Club of New York, the Global Advisory Board at Stanford, and the Council on Foreign Relations.

Source: Citi