Wikramanayake worked as a
corporate lawyer at
Blake Dawson Waldron before joining
Macquarie Group Ltd in 1987. In December 2018, she replaced
Nicholas Moore as Managing Director/CEO of Macquarie Group. Prior to this, Wikramanayake was the group head of Macquarie Asset Management. She also went onto become the first female CEO of Macquarie Group and also turned out to be the sixth CEO of Macquarie Group. In 2018, she was appointed as the Commissioner of the Global Commission on Adaptation, a commission which was initiated by the
World Bank to implement and accelerate
climate adaptation action plan. In 2019, she was appointed to the UN's Climate Finance Leadership Initiative by
Michael Bloomberg. She is the only female CEO among Australia's 20 biggest companies by market value In 2019, she also entered the record books as the first woman ever to become Australia's top earning CEO. She was ranked 29th in the list of Most Powerful Women in the World for the Year 2020 by
Forbes. She was ranked 24th in the list of Most Powerful Women in the World for the Year 2021 by
Forbes. She was also named as one of Fortune's Most Powerful and Influential Women in a roundup of global female business leaders segment. She was ranked 9th on Fortune's list of Most Powerful Women in 2023. She was also one of the speakers who attended the
2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference which was held in
Glasgow and she spoke about the mobilizing private climate finance for emerging markets. Her presence at the Glasgow G20 International Conference on Climate burnished her reputation and emphasized her green credentials while she was also seated next to Australian Prime Minister
Scott Morrison. She was initially implied as the de facto leader of Australian delegation during the COP26 summit as rumours started circulating that Morrison would not be probably attending the COP26 conference. In July, 2024, Macquarie announced it had reversed its coal policy, paving the way for its bankers to be involved in coal-sector consolidation on Australia’s east coast and coal mines globally. She was also named as of The Australian Financial Review Business People of the Year for 2021 in recognition of her leadership prowess amid the
COVID-19 pandemic related uncertainties. She received $16.39 million in compensation in 2021. This coincided with Macquarie recording a $1.3 billion profit in the last quarter of 2021. She also provides advice and consultancy on green technology investment to the
Government of Australia. She was also appointed as the co-chair of the Climate Finance Leadership Initiative in India. ==Personal life==