As CEO of Citigroup, Jane Fraser has been leading the bank's turnaround efforts since 2021.© John Lamparski/Getty ImagesJane Fraser holds the distinction of becoming the first woman to lead a major Wall Street bank. Appointed chief executive officer of Citigroup (C) in 2021, she took charge of an institution long criticized for its unwieldy structure and inconsistent performance. She set out to simplify operations, strengthen risk controls, and improve returns. Her tenure has since been marked by large-scale restructuring, regulatory scrutiny, and efforts to restore Citigroup’s competitiveness among the largest U.S. banks.

　　Early life and educationJane Fraser was born on July 13, 1967, in St. Andrews, Scotland. An only child, she spent her early years in the coastal university town, where her father worked as an accountant. As a schoolgirl she earned pocket money caddying at St. Andrews’ Old Course, the town’s famous golf course. When she was 12, her family relocated to Australia. Although initially interested in medicine, she realized her intellectual strengths lay elsewhere and turned to economics.

　　Fraser studied at Girton College, University of Cambridge, where she received a bachelor’s degree in economics in 1988. After graduating from Cambridge, Fraser joined Goldman Sachs (GS) in London as a mergers and acquisitions analyst.  In 1990, she moved to Madrid, where she worked for the securities firm Asesores Bursátiles and became fluent in Spanish. She departed in 1992 to pursue her MBA, which she completed at Harvard Business School in 1994. In 1996, she married Alberto Piedra, a banker; they have two children.

　　Following her time at Harvard, Fraser joined McKinsey & Company, a consulting firm, where she focused on financial services and global strategy. She later became a partner and coauthored Race for the World: Strategies to Build a Great Global Firm (1999), which delved into the problems and practices of corporate globalization. The book posited that companies structured to take full advantage of their international reach can achieve exceptional results. It cited Citigroup as an example of that approach, bringing Fraser to the attention of Michael Klein, then head of the bank’s investment banking division.

　　Career at CitigroupKlein spent several years trying to recruit Fraser. She eventually made the move in 2004, starting out as head of client strategy in the investment and corporate banking division in London. Three years later, she moved to New York, where she became global head of strategy and mergers and acquisitions. During the 2007–08 financial crisis, she played a key role in restructuring the bank’s operations and advising senior management on long-term planning.

　　After helping guide Citigroup through the financial crisis, Fraser led several of Citigroup’s consumer businesses, holding the CEO title at Citi Private Bank, CitiMortgage, and U.S. Consumer and Commercial Banking and Global Mortgages.

　　In 2015, she was appointed CEO of Citigroup’s Latin American operations, becoming both the first woman and the first person from outside Latin America to lead the division. Her fluency in Spanish was an asset as she oversaw the bank’s business throughout the region.

　　Fraser returned to New York in 2019 as president of Citigroup and CEO of global consumer banking, positions that placed her in line to succeed longtime CEO Michael Corbat. In the fall of 2020, Corbat told Fraser he planned to retire in February 2021 and that she was in line to replace him. She formally assumed the role in March 2021.

　　Leadership and strategy at CitigroupAs CEO, Fraser inherited a bank that had struggled for years to match the profitability and efficiency of its largest U.S. competitors, such as JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Bank of America (BAC), and Wells Fargo (WFC). Citigroup was operating under federal consent orders related to risk management and internal controls, and investors had long criticized its complex organizational structure.

　　Fraser launched a multiyear plan to simplify the bank, strengthen its governance, and focus on businesses where it could compete effectively. Her strategy included reducing layers of management, selling consumer-banking operations in several international markets, and consolidating overlapping divisions. The overhaul aimed to create a leaner, more accountable structure and to address the regulatory shortcomings that had dogged Citigroup since the 2007–08 financial crisis. By late 2025, Citigroup had reported four consecutive quarters of year-over-year gains in revenue and earnings, supported by strong performance in its markets and investment banking businesses as well as lower expenses.

　　Workplace culture at CitigroupBeyond financial performance, Fraser has also reshaped Citigroup’s internal culture and management tone. Fraser’s leadership has been described as methodical and collaborative, a contrast to the high-profile style often associated with Wall Street chief executives. She is known to favor building consensus and detailed planning over public showmanship and has a reputation as a disciplined strategist more focused on execution than visibility. Colleagues have noted her emphasis on clarity and accountability within the organization, traits that reflect her background in consulting at McKinsey.

　　Fraser has also stood out among major bank leaders for her approach to work-life balance. Many employers tightened in-office requirements after the COVID-19 pandemic, but Fraser kept Citigroup’s hybrid work policy, allowing most employees to work remotely up to two days a week. She has argued that flexibility helps attract and retain talent, particularly women and parents, and positions the company as a more modern workplace. The policy has been described as a significant departure from the stricter return-to-office mandates at other large banks.

　　Fraser has been an advocate for diversity and inclusion within the financial industry, calling for more women in senior roles and for pay equity. Under her leadership, Citigroup has published regular data on workforce representation and has linked portions of executive compensation to progress on inclusion goals.

　　Recognition and honorsFraser’s leadership has earned wide recognition in the financial industry. American Banker magazine’s Women to Watch list named her No. 1 in both 2014 and 2015. In 2021, she was included in Forbes magazine’s inaugural 50 Over 50 list, honoring women over age 50 who lead major companies and drive global change. Fortune ranked Fraser fourth on its list of the most powerful women in business in 2023 and third in 2024.

　　Board memberships and industry rolesBeyond Citigroup, Fraser holds leadership positions in several major business and policy organizations. She is on the boards of the Business Roundtable, the Council on Foreign Relations, the U.S.-Saudi Business Council, and the Partnership for New York City. She is also chair of the Financial Services Forum and a member of the Group of Thirty, the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s International Advisory Panel, the Harvard Business School Board of Dean’s Advisors, the Stanford Global Advisory Board, and the Economic Club of New York.

　　Laura Payne