Born: 28 November 1964, United States
Died: NA
Country most active: United States
Also known as: NA
The following is excerpted from Infinite Women founder Allison Tyra’s book The View from the Hill: Women Who Made Their Mark After 40.
Sallie Krawcheck had worked in finance for over a decade, including holding c-suite leadership roles at major companies, when she co-founded Ellevest, a woman-focused investment platform, in 2014, the year she turned 49. Five years after launching the platform in 2016, the company hit a major milestone in 2021: $1 billion in assets under management. The company had 123,000 clients at the time, ranging in age from 18 to 106.
“With #MeToo, we got enough demand for it,” she told Forbes, recalling that one wealthy woman told her, “‘Look, I’m tired of supporting the companies and institutions that haven’t supported me. And I don’t want to have my money managed by any company I wouldn’t let my daughter work at.’ And I’m, like, well . . . done.”
Krawcheck also built Ellevest into more than an investment service, adding savings account and debit card options as well as coaching with financial planners, executive coaches, and money coaches.
“When you survey women about what they want from a financial company, the number one thing they say is, ‘I want to earn more money at work,’” she told Forbes. “And then the whole industry ignores them.”
With a majority-female engineering team, Ellevest’s algorithms also account for gendered aspects that often get left out, shortchanging women. This includes factors like women’s typically longer lifespans and salaries that peak earlier than men’s. “This didn’t come along before because the industry is so, so male and making so much money,” she said.
There were also plenty of skeptics telling Krawcheck from the outset that she was doomed before she ever started. “One personal finance journalist titled her (yes, her) story on us: “Financial Advice Just for Women Might Seem Like a Great Idea. Here’s Why It’s Not,”” she later recalled.
By 2024, a decade after founding, the company had hit the $2 billion mark.