10 top black bankers of New York City

Crains New York Business has released its 2021 list of notable black leaders and executives and they include a handful of people working at leading banks. However, there are also - in our opinion - plenty of banking/finance names missing from Crain's assessment.

Here are some of the top banking names from Crain's list, plus several other black bankers at the top of their game in NYC.

Carla Harris, Morgan Stanley

Harris is on Crain's list. The vice chairman of wealth management and a senior client advisor at Morgan Stanley, she joined the firm in M&A in 1987. If you're looking for career advice, Harris may be willing to offer it. "I am able to provide general career advice and guidance to a lot of people I have not gotten to know personally, but who seek counsel or ask for an opinion," she said in a piece for Morgan Stanley's website. Harris added that she expects people she helps to give something back: "For both those whom I mentor and whom I sponsor, I expect them to do as equally passionate a job to mentor and sponsor others down the road." 

Anu Aiyengar, JPMorgan 

Aiyengar isn't on Crain's list. An Indian by birth, she came to America as a child and was promoted to co-head of North American M&A at JPMorgan in 2015. "She is definitely part of the next generation who will be running this place for the next 20, 30 years, and this job is going to get her ready for that,” Carlos Hernandez, executive chair of investment and corporate banking at JPMorgan, told Bloomberg in December. 

Frederick Baba, Goldman Sachs 

Baba isn't on Crain's list either. A managing director in rates systematic market making at Goldman Sachs, Baba wrote a powerful article for Bloomberg last June where he detailed his experiences of prejudice after moving to the U.S. from Nigeria. In it, he described how he'd been slammed against a Chicago street car by police looking for 'someone in shorts.' "I've learned how to prove I’m intelligent, to prove I’m not threatening, to prove I’m innocent after being assumed guilty," Baba wrote.

Margaret Anadu, Goldman Sachs 

Anadu is on Crain's list. She's a partner in Goldman's merchant banking division and head of the firm's urban investor group. Anadu has been at Goldman since 2003, when she joined as an analyst in the equity derivatives business after graduating in computer science from Harvard. 

Peter Akwaboah, Morgan Stanley 

Akwaboah isn't on Crain's list either, which is a shame as he just took a big new job at Morgan Stanley. Akwaboah has been promoted to COO for operations, technology and resilience for the bank, which he joined in 2015 after nearly 11 years at Royal Bank of Scotland. 

Adewale Ogunleye, UBS

Ogunleye is head of the sports and entertainment strategic clients segment at UBS. He joined the bank in December 2019 after a career as an American football player. Ogunleye is on Crains' list.

Mark Mason, Citi 

Mason isn't on Crain's list. The CFO of Citi, he's arguably the most powerful black role model in finance. Mason joined Citi in 2001 and become CFO in 2019. 

Earl Hunt, Goldman Sachs

Hunt isn't on Crain's list either. A Goldman Sachs partner in relationship management and strategy, he joined the firm in 2015 from Citi. Speaking a Goldman Sachs town hall event in June, Hunt said even Goldman partners can experience state aggression of the kind on display before George Floyd died. 

Asahi Pompey, Goldman Sachs 

Another Goldman banker, Pompey is on the firm's management committee, and on Crain's list. She joined Goldman as co-chief compliance officer and head of compliance for the investment bank and is now president of the Goldman Sachs foundation and global head of corporate engagement. Pompey is the person to know if you're a charity looking for a GS donation.

Jared Tingle, Harlem Capital 

Tingle is on Crain's list. He doesn't work in banking any more, but he did. - Tingle began his career as a TMT banker before he moved to the buyside. These days, he runs Harlem Capital, a group of diverse investors that aspires to change the face of entrepreneurship by investing in diverse founders across America.

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