Wall Street Without its Top Three Women

October 11, 2008 : Amy Siskind 

A couple of years ago, there were three top women working for U.S. Investment Banks. Each was rumored to possibly be in a position to break a very high glass ceiling: to become the CEO of an investment bank. One by one, each has fallen. The reason? Well, the investment banks each fell on hard times, so the easy target was shown the door.

With the benefit of hindsight, I thought we could all revisit the performance of these firms after the ouster of their top women.

The investment bank that did the best of the three was Citibank. Citibank fired/demoted then-CFO Sally Krawcheck in January 2007. The company had fallen on hard times: it must have been Sally’s fault. Clear the decks of a top woman and surely things will improve, right? Well, since Sally’s ouster, the stock has fallen 74%.

Which brings us to our next victim: Zoe Cruz of Morgan Stanley. Zoe, who I worked for years ago and who was a tireless promoter of women, was shown the door in November 2007. Morgan Stanley was starting to have losses from the mortgage meltdown, so despite her years of record performance, Zoe was shown the door. Since then, Morgan Stanley’s stock has plummeted 82%.

And now the winner of the contest – the biggest loser wall street firm of all: the stock that fell the most after firing/demoting its top woman: Lehman Brothers. Well, perhaps Lehman would have been better off as Lehman Brothers & Sisters. Since Erin Callan was demoted in June 2008, Lehman’s stock is now worthless – the winner with a 100% decline – and hence the biggest loser firm!

It sure pays to fire top women!