Sanford C. Bernstein Krawcheck started her career as equity analyst covering Wall Street firms, rising to become director of research and then chairman and CEO of sell-side research firm
Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. She had a reputation for impartial advice and her decision to take Bernstein out of the lucrative, but conflicted underwriting business, caused
Fortune to dub her "The Last Honest Analyst." Citigroup sought her out to deal with criticisms over conflicts of interest within its
wealth management and research business after charges were brought against the company by
Eliot Spitzer. The Smith Barney unit was set up in order to separate Citigroup's investment banking from its stock brokering and research operations, to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest in those areas. Krawcheck was put in charge of 13,000 brokers and analysts of the new retail brokerage division. In 2004, Krawcheck was appointed chief financial officer for Citigroup. In 2007, Krawcheck was named CEO of Citi's wealth management business, which included returning to Smith Barney and adding the Citi Private Bank. At the time of her arrival, the Private Bank had been thrown out of Japan for sales practice issues; this, combined with continuing Citi regulatory issues, resulted in financial advisor attrition that was at an all-time high. She worked to change the corporate culture for Smith Barney's financial advisors as an early advocate of a fiduciary standard for the brokerage industry. Krawcheck left Citi on September 22, 2008, following months of tension with chief executive officer
Vikram Pandit due to the fact that Krawcheck argued for Citi to reimburse clients for defective investments distributed by Citi wealth management's brokers and bankers. Pandit and other chief officers at Citi disagreed, arguing that Citi had no legal obligation in the matter.
Bank of America Following the acquisition of
Merrill Lynch in 2009,
Bank of America hired Krawcheck to head the
new division. Although Bank of America then-chief executive Ken Lewis had attempted to cancel the deal in the weeks before it closed, fearing Merrill Lynch was in worse financial condition than previously known, Krawcheck led the unit to $3.1 billion in profits during her two years as president of the wealth management unit. while Bank of America posted an overall $8.8 billion loss. Krawcheck's position at Merrill was eliminated by the firm's new chief executive,
Brian Moynihan, as part of restructuring, and Krawcheck left Bank of America on September 6, 2011.
Ellevate Network Krawcheck acquired 85 Broads Unlimited LLC. (which is now doing business as
Ellevate Network) in 2013 and is now the chairwoman of the organization.
Ellevest Krawcheck is the co-founder and CEO of
Ellevest, a digital investment platform for women. Ellevest's goal is to work to close the gender investing gap in the U.S. by "redefining investing for women." ==Recognition==