Most Powerful Women Asia

Shemara Wikramanayake

Courtesy of Macquarie Group
  • Title
    Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
  • Company/Affiliation
    Macquarie Group
  • Country/Territory
    Australia

Shemara Wikramanayake joined Sydney-based Macquarie in 1987 and spent the next three decades climbing her way to the role of managing director and CEO of the sprawling financial services firm. Macquarie grew its profit to $2.4 billion for the year ending March 2025, a 5% increase. Yet Wikramanyake–Australia’s highest-paid chief executive–is facing investor unrest over perceived regulatory lapses: A quarter of shareholders voted against the bank’s executive pay report at the financial firm’s AGM in July.