Jane Fraser

Jane Fraser became CEO of Citigroup in March 2021, making history as the first woman to lead a major Wall Street bank. Born in Scotland in 1967, she holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and an MA from Cambridge. She joined Citi in 2004 after a career at McKinsey and Goldman Sachs, rising through roles in Latin American banking, consumer banking, and strategy. Fraser inherited Citi at its most challenging moment since the 2008 crisis. The bank had persistently underperformed peers, trading at a significant discount to book value — a rarity among major banks. Regulatory consent orders in 2020 over data governance and risk management failures added urgency to the need for transformation. Her response has been the most sweeping restructuring in Citi's modern history. She announced exits from consumer banking in 14 markets across Asia and Europe, including Mexico's Banamex — one of the most complex divestitures in banking history. She eliminated an entire layer of management, reduced the number of direct CEO reports, and announced plans to cut 20,000 jobs over two years to streamline operations. The strategic vision centers on five core businesses: services (treasury and trade solutions), markets, banking, U.S. personal banking, and wealth management. Her bet is that a simpler, more focused Citi can earn returns above its cost of capital and trade closer to book value. This transformation remains Citi's biggest investor story — and Fraser's defining challenge as CEO.