Finance is one of the most challenging professions out there. There are lucrative investments like bonds that come with extremely high risk, and then there are safer investments like GICs with more moderate returns. The key to investment success is understanding how to make money between balancing high risk and high returns.
One thing that makes it so attractive for so many people is that anyone can do it, regardless of who they are, where they’re from, or any other little attributes. Despite this, the investing profession remains male-dominated to this day.
While the majority of financial workers are male, the amount of female investors who have made an impact on the financial world is pretty high. Here are six famous female investors and their success stories in the world of investments:
1. Geraldine Weiss
When talking about the most famous female investors, it’s pretty difficult to ignore the success of Geraldine Weiss, known as The Great Lady of Dividends. Weiss helped put women on the map in the financial industry. After countless rejections from companies that essentially shrugged off the notion of hiring women beyond secretarial roles, Weiss began her own newsletter, Investment Quality Trends, in 1966.
In addition to acting as editor of the publication for 37 years, she was also the first woman to hold an investment license. Weiss’ stock market analyses have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fortune, and The New York Times. Plus, she has written multiple books, and her dividend-based investment system are still admired and respected in today’s financial world.
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2. Lubna S. Olayan
Lubna S. Olayan is one of the most famous female investors from Saudia Arabia. Despite the harsh social, political and entrepreneurial constraints imposed on women that Saudi Arabia is known for, Olayan refused to be held back. After forging an impressive financial career, she steadily rose up the ranks of Olayan Finance Company. The company was a 40-firm conglomerate of manufacturing companies that she is now the executive director of.
Despite all of this, she still faces a pretty hefty amount of criticism on most days. Naturally, she goes to great lengths to face this adversity with grace and courageousness This really helps her shine bright as a pillar of strength for women in the Middle East and around the world.
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3. Barbara Corcoran
Readers interested in investment may know the next entry from her role on ABC’s Shark Tank panel. However, the truth is that Barbara Corcoran has been a shark for much longer than that. Now enjoying a title as one of the most important women in the real estate sector, Corcoran started from surprisingly humble beginnings. she was a waitress at a coffee shop and borrowed $1,000 from her boyfriend to start her real estate company in Manhattan.
In the time since then, she has sold The Corcoran Group for an estimated 66 million, launched Barbara Corcoran Venture Partners and then went on to invest in more than 30 companies throughout her career at Shark Tank. Besides being one of the most successful female investors, Corcoran is also a motivational lecturer. She periodically writes critically acclaimed books and regularly contributing to The Today Show.
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4. Sallie Krawcheck
Sallie Krawcheck has had a long, fascinating career. Said career has garnered her renown as one of the most powerful women on Wall Street today. Krawcheck started this career working as a stock analyst at one of Wall Street’s most prestigious firms. Naturally, this was before becoming CEO of Citigroup’s Smith Barney unit. By 2009, she was elevated to president of Merrill Lynch’s wealth management unit, earning her an incredible $3.1 billion in two years.
$3.1 billion isn’t a small amount of money. She could have easily ended her career with that and spent the rest of her days in comfort, but a person like Krawcheck is never quite satisfied. Last May, Krawcheck launched Ellevest, a digital investment adviser for female investors. In the hope of closing the investment gap, Ellevest’s team will empower women misunderstood by their counselors, and give them a place in the current market, which is severely dominated by men. The endgame of this initiative would be to close the gap between men and women in this profession.
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5. Arlene Dickinson
Arlene Dickinson is widely known as one of the most successful business leaders in Canada. She has had a rather prolific career, spanning various industries, starting with Venture Communications. In this role, she helped make the company one of Canada’s leading marketing companies. Dickinson is considered one of the most famous female investors thanks to her role in Dragon’s Den, in which she appeared on the show from 2007 to 2015.
Arlene Dickinson Enterprises launched in 2012, which focuses on targeting and investing in Canada’s new entrepreneurs. Dickinson is a philanthropist, writer, speaker and TV personality, has received many awards and has been included in Canada’s Top 100 Women’s Hall of Fame.
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6. Debra Cafaro
Debra Cafaro is definitely a significant force of nature as a real estate investor. As CEO of Ventas Inc, she is able to show just how competent she is. For those not in the know, Ventas Inc. is a real estate investment trust that focuses on health estate management in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Prior to her role at Ventas, she was a lawyer and acquired experience in real estate, corporate and financial law.
When Cafaro was landed her job as CEO and president in 1999, the company’s finances were in dire straights, even described as on the verge of collapse. At this time, the market value of the company was around 200 million. Thanks to Cafaro’s efforts, Ventas Inc now has a value of 30 billion. This female investor has been named one of the “50 best CEOs in the world” by The Harvard Business Review more than once.
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