Meet Macquarie’s first female CEO, Shemara Wikramanayake
The company veteran, who takes over from Nicholas Moore in November, joins the ranks of Australia’s most powerful businesswomen
Sydney — Shemara Wikramanayake will succeed Nicholas Moore as chief executive officer of Macquarie Group, catapulting the low-profile company veteran into the ranks of Australia’s most powerful businesswomen. Moore, who has led Macquarie for a decade, will retire November 30, the Sydney-based company said on Thursday. The 56-year-old Wikramanayake, who joined Macquarie in 1987 and currently heads its asset management arm, becomes the group’s first female CEO. Wikramanayake will inherit a company that has transformed itself under Moore’s stewardship from an Australian investment bank into the world’s largest infrastructure asset manager, which now earns more than two-thirds of its income overseas. Its asset management, financial services and corporate finance businesses now account for 70% of earnings. Macquarie’s share price has more than doubled under Moore’s tenure. In a brief trading update released Thursday, Macquarie said its first-quarter performance was up compared with a yea...
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