Who Is Jane Fraser and How Is She Reshaping Citigroup?

Summary

Jane Fraser is Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Citigroup, the first woman to lead a major US global bank. A Scot by birth with degrees from Cambridge and Harvard Business School, Fraser rose through roles at Goldman Sachs, McKinsey and across Citi since 2004. Her leadership is focused on a multi-year transformation to simplify Citi’s complex operating model, sharpen strategic focus on client-facing growth areas and modernise technology and controls.

Her priorities emphasise operational simplification, targeted investment in high-growth businesses such as investment banking and wealth management, and pragmatic technology integration that supports risk and process discipline. Recent moves include becoming Chair of the board in late 2025, receiving a long-term equity award tied to performance, and announcing further job reductions in early 2026 while continuing selective hiring in priority areas.

Key Points

Fraser is the first woman to lead a major US global bank and now serves as both CEO and Chair of Citigroup’s board.
Her transformation strategy centres on simplification, strategic focus and disciplined execution to reduce complexity and improve returns.
Operational simplification has involved rationalising overlapping functions, collapsing layers and aligning costs to performance metrics such as return on tangible common equity.
She is prioritising growth in client-centric areas — investment banking, institutional services and wealth management — while trimming non-core activity.
Technology integration under Fraser is pragmatic: automation and data are used to improve efficiency and controls, not as an end in themselves.
In late 2025 she consolidated leadership by becoming Chair and received a long-term equity award tied to milestones and continuity.
Early 2026 saw around 1,000 job reductions framed as cost and efficiency alignment, balanced with hires in priority revenue-generating teams.
Fraser is influential beyond Citi: she holds roles in the Business Roundtable, Council on Foreign Relations and other policy and business forums, reinforcing her impact on global finance and governance.

Context and Relevance

Citigroup is one of the world’s most geographically diverse banks, and Fraser’s changes respond to persistent challenges: duplicated systems, slow execution and uneven returns. Her approach matters because large banks influence capital flows, regulatory expectations and market stability. For anyone tracking banking strategy, regulatory risk, or leadership diversity, Fraser’s actions are a practical case study in disciplined transformation at scale.

Author style

Punchy. This is a leader making hard, strategic choices at a huge, global institution. If you follow finance, governance or corporate transformation, the specifics here — especially the Chair appointment, incentive alignment and the push/pull of cuts versus hires — are worth the detail.

Why should I read this?

Short version: she’s cutting complexity, doubling down on where the bank can actually make money and quietly moving the organisation to act more commercially. We read it so you don’t have to — but if you care about how global banks will compete and comply over the next few years, this is essential context.