Note: This article has been update. See below.
Ruth Porat is no stranger to being singled out because of her gender.
During Google parent company Alphabet’s annual meeting this summer, the company’s financial chief faced blatant sexism from a shareholder who referred to her as “the lady CFO” while referring to a man, Alphabet corporate secretary David Drummond, by name.
Speaking at a Wednesday morning panel at the 2016 Coins2Day Most Powerful Women Summit in Laguna Niguel, Calif., Porat said she believed that Hillary Clinton, too, faced gender discrimination.
“The trash talk in both the primary and general election is derived from the fact that she’s a woman,” the CFO said of the Democratic nominee. Citing Clinton’s years of policy experience, she called her “thoughtful” and “rooted in data.”
After pointing out that Google itself is a neutral information platform, Porat said she has been a long-time Clinton supporter, ever since the former first lady was elected to the Senate in 2000. CNN Money reported earlier this year that the financial chief has donated at least $100,000 to Clinton. Politico called her one of the campaign’s “official intermediaries to reach out to the business community” on Clinton’s behalf.
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Porat has been working in and around the finance industry for decades, and has played the role of disciplinarian at helm of the sprawling tech giant Alphabet. She became Morgan Stanley’s CFO in 2010 and served as an advisor to the U.S. Department of Treasury during the financial crisis.
She also isn’t Clinton’s only notable tech industry endorser. Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook, is “with her,” as is Eric Schmidt, Alphabet’s executive chairman, and Netflix’s Reed Hastings. Tech luminaries (Peter Thiel excepted) have been hesitant to support GOP nominee Donald Trump.
An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified David Drummond as the corporate secretary of Apple. He is the corporate secretary of Alphabet.
