Sallie Krawcheck, the pioneering Wall Street veteran who co-founded Ellevest, the wealth management firm with portfolios geared toward women, is stepping down as chief executive officer for health reasons.
“As they say, you can have 1,000 problems in your life until you have a health problem. And then you only have one problem,” Krawcheck, 60, wrote on the firm’s website Tuesday, without elaborating on her diagnosis. “So I need to do this for myself and my family.”
Ellevest will be run by co-CEOs Sylvia Kwan, who will remain chief investment officer, and Connie Hsiung, who will continue as chief operating officer and finance chief. Krawcheck, who regularly ranks on annual lists of Wall Street’s most powerful women, said she will provide guidance as part of the firm’s board.
Krawcheck rose to prominence more than two decades ago as a star bank analyst at research boutique Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., which she eventually led. At the time, Fortune dubbed her “the last honest analyst,” spotlighting her integrity in an era when others were caught pitching frothy stocks to small investors.
