Muriel Siebert, First Woman on the NYSE, Dead at 80

Muriel Siebert, often times known as “Mickie,” passed away this Saturday at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. She was 80 years old.

Siebert was the first woman to ever own a seat on the New York Stock Exchange. She began her career in finance in 1954 when she was only 22 years old and working a trainee in research at Bache & Co. Thirteen years later, in 1967, Siebert established her own investment firm — Muriel Siebert & Co. Inc. — and bought her seat on the New York City Stock Exchange, a previously all-male environment. In 1977, she became the first female superintendent of banking for the State of New York. Siebert held the position for five years before returning to run her company.

Siebert fought long and hard to carve out a place for women in the finance world. She served on the National Women’s Business Council and was president of the New York Women’s Agenda. Director of Siebert Financial Jane Macon eulogizes that Siebert was “a fabulous woman, a trailblazer and a pioneer, She always pushed the doors open and kept them open for other people to follow.”