COLOMBO : Shemara Wikramanayake, the CEO and Managing Director of Australian firm Macquarie Group, became the twenty-ninth most powerful woman in the world, according to the latest ranking of a popular annual power list. She was catapulted right into the No 29 sport on Forbes magazine’s world’s 100 most powerful women 2020 list which was published this week.
Shemara Wickremanayake was born in Britain to Sri Lankan parents, and later immigrated to Australia when she was 13.
Starting at the investment bank – known informally as the ‘millionaires’ factory’ – in 1987, Wikramanayake ascended in rank to head up Macquarie’s asset management division in 2008. She was announced as Managing Director and CEO of Macquarie Group back in July 2018. She made history at the time by becoming Macquarie’s first female CEO.
Meanwhile, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Christine Lagarde and Kamala Harris were ranked at the top three places respectively and they were followed by Ursula Von Der Leyen, Melinda Gates, Mary Barra, Nancy Pelosi , Ana Patricia Botin, Abigail Johnson and Gail Boudreaux among the top 10.
