Zoe Cruz

Zoe Cruz was once the richest woman on wall street, a Harvard graduate with a prestigious executive position at Morgan Stanley. She started out as a trader in 1982 and quickly rose in the ranks to become managing director by 1990. By 2006 Zoe Cruz was a $30 million per year earner holding the position of co-president of Morgan Stanley and regarded one of the most powerful women in the financial world and certainly the most successful woman ever on wall street; but by the end of 2007 Zoe Cruz was fired from Morgan Stanley following billions in mortgage investment losses sustained by the company.

A New York Magazine article titled Only the Men Survive – The crash of Zoe Cruz, written by Joe Hagan back in April (2008), details how Cruz rose to unprecedented heights of success at Morgan Stanley despite being a woman in an industry where women were allowed to go only so far, and how she was abruptly fired just when she thought she was going to be taking that next step to even higher heights by replacing CEO John Mack who, according to the article, “had signaled that Cruz was his first choice to replace him as the head of Morgan Stanley when he retired”.

The article is worth a read: The crash of Zoe Cruz

From Wikipedia – Zoe Cruz (born February 2, 1955 in Greece) was appointed Co-President of Morgan Stanley on February 9, 2006. The Cruz has a 24-year history with Morgan Stanley. She graduated from Harvard University with a bachelor’s degree in Literature in 1977. She received an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1982. She began her career at Morgan Stanley in 1982, becoming a Vice President in 1986, a Principal in 1988 and a Managing Director in 1990. From 2000 to 2005, she held the position of global Head of Fixed Income, Commodities and Foreign Exchange.

Where is Zoe Cruz Now?

At the moment it seems Zoe Cruz might be out of a job, but unless she plans on starting her own company one can ask what need she would have to go seeking another corporate position when she has already been to the mountain top and has the million dollar bank account to prove it. She’s probably scultping or painting or otherwise occupying her time with things that mean something to her.