Once Labeled the ‘Wrong Color,’ a JPMorgan M&A Co-Chief Rakes in Billions for the Bank
Anu Aiyengar, the only woman or person of color heading a global mergers shop on Wall Street, says the lines between industries are blurring.
Aiyengar is JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s co-head of global mergers and acquisitions.
Photographer: Richard Beaven for Bloomberg Businessweek
As JPMorgan Chase & Co. searches for its first major acquisition in more than a decade, Anu Aiyengar will have a hand in shaping the giant bank’s future. She’s the co-head of its global mergers and acquisitions business, and the only person of color and only woman to hold that position on Wall Street. It’s been a remarkable trajectory for an Indian immigrant who moved to the U.S. as a teenager to study at Smith College, shivering through the bitter Massachusetts winter in a $5 coat.
“M&A was traditionally a male bastion—often cigar-smoking men in suspenders—and now she is at the top of the field, because she is simply outstanding at what she does,” says her boss, JPMorgan Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon.