Susan Lynne Wagner (born 1961) is an American financial executive. Wagner is one of the co-founders of

BlackRock BlackRock, Inc. is an American Multinational corporation, multinational investment company. Founded in 1988, initially as an enterprise risk management and fixed income institutional asset manager, BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager ...

, an American multinational

investment management Investment management (sometimes referred to more generally as financial asset management) is the professional asset management of various Security (finance), securities, including shareholdings, Bond (finance), bonds, and other assets, such as r ...

corporation, where she was vice chairman and chief operating officer. BlackRock is the largest asset management firm in the world with $10.01 trillion in

assets under management In finance, assets under management (AUM), sometimes called fund under management, refers to the total market value of all financial assets that a financial institution—such as a mutual fund, venture capital firm, or depository institutio ...

as of January 2024. In 2011, she was named to two lists of powerful women: "Most Powerful Women in New York 2011" and "50 Most Powerful Women in Business (2011)".

Early life and education

Wagner was born in 1961 in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

to a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family. She graduated in 1982 with honors from

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a Private university, private Women's colleges in the United States, historically women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henr ...

with a BA in English and Economics, and then earned an MBA in finance from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

in 1984.

Career

After earning her MBA, Wagner worked as vice president of the mortgage finance group for

Lehman Brothers Lehman Brothers Inc. ( ) was an American global financial services firm founded in 1850. Before filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States (behind Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Merril ...

. In 1988, Wagner and Ralph Schlosstein left Lehman to join Blackstone Financial Group. Later, Blackstone Financial Group changed their name to

. As one of the co-founders of BlackRock in 1988, Wagner was vice chairman and chief operating officer. She orchestrated BlackRock's mergers and acquisitions, which included Quellos, Merrill Lynch Investment Management, and Barclays Global Investors. Prior to retiring from BlackRock in 2012, Wagner expanded the company into Asia, the Middle East and Brazil. Since retiring from BlackRock, she is on their board of directors, and a member of the board of trustees of the Hackley School. In May 2014, Wagner was asked by Wellesley's class of 2014 to deliver the commencement address. In July 2014, Wagner was named to the board of

Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, in Silicon Valley. It is best known for its consumer electronics, software, and services. Founded in 1976 as Apple Comput ...

, replacing long-time board member William Campbell. Wagner was the second woman on the Apple eight-member board and the only director with a background in finance. In 2014, she also was elected to the board of directors of Swiss Re.

Awards

In 2023, Wagner received the Women's Entrepreneurship Day Finance Pioneer Award at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

in recognition as a trailblazer and innovators in their field and who inspire all around them to use their lives to make a meaningful impact on the world.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wagner, Susan Wellesley College alumni University of Chicago Booth School of Business alumni American women business executives American business executives Jewish American bankers American bankers Living people Place of birth missing (living people) 1961 births Directors of Apple Inc. 21st-century American women BlackRock people