Muriel Siebert earned her distinction as the “First Woman of Finance” through a refusal to accept a life on the margins of a male-dominated industry.
Siebert started her own stock brokerage in 1967 and became the first woman to land a seat on the New York Stock Exchange the same year after a grueling battle. The first nine members of the exchange she approached for sponsorship rebuffed her, and the NYSE only agreed to sell her a seat — at a record price — if a bank agreed to front the money.
After securing her NYSE seat, Siebert built up her eponymous brokerage while advocating to bring more women into the financial sector as the U.S. began to lose its dominance over global markets. Eleven years after breaking the NYSE’s glass ceiling, Siebert became the first woman to serve as New York’s superintendent of banks and served until a failed run for the Republican nomination to challenge legendary New York Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D).
Siebert returned to her firm after her Senate bid and continued public service through philanthropy and efforts to increase financial literacy among women. And nearly 40 years after Siebert fought for her own seat at the NYSE, the exchange named an event hall after her. Siebert passed away in 2013 at the age of 84, but her brokerage and asset management firm continues to operate.
— Sylvan Lane
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