May 11, 2020
Alexandra Lebenthal
Website: http://egvllc.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandralebenthal/
Alexandra Lebenthal is a Senior Advisor for Empire Global Ventures, and has led companies on Wall Street for thirty years. Most recently, she was the CEO of Lebenthal Holdings, a diversified financial services firm that included the nation’s largest woman-owned broker dealer. Coming from a storied Wall Street family, her grandparents, Louis and Sayra Lebenthal, founded Lebenthal & Co., Inc, a municipal bond specialist, in 1925. Her father, Jim Lebenthal, created a mass market for municipal bonds, and was known as the spokesman for the industry.
After starting her career at Kidder Peabody, Ms. Lebenthal joined Lebenthal in 1988 and became President and CEO in 1995 at the age of 31. She was also President of Lebenthal Funds, overseeing the firm’s mutual and money market funds. After successfully diversifying the firm beyond municipal bonds, Alexandra engineered its sale in 2001 to The Advest Group, and remained at the firm until it was subsequently sold to Merrill Lynch in 2005. During that time, in addition to managing Lebenthal, she also ran marketing and municipal capital markets for the parent company. She started anew in 2007, building Lebenthal Holdings into an asset management, wealth management and capital markets boutique. Lebenthal was the number one woman-owned firm in debt and equity capital markets from 2012-2016.
A passionate supporter of women in business, Ms. Lebenthal was named one of the top 50 Women in Wealth Management by Wealth Manager Magazine, as well as Private Asset Management. She has also been named to the Crain’s New York Top Women-Owned Businesses and the Crain’s Fastest 50 Growing Businesses in New York.
Ms. Lebenthal has extensive public and private board experience. She currently is an advisory board member for AnytownUSA, Interprice and Alternew. She is a mentor for Parallel 18, an accelerator for startups in Puerto Rico. She is as a former board member and Treasurer of the Securities Industry Financial Markets Association (SIFMA). She is a member of C200, the leading organization for female businesswomen.
Ms. Lebenthal is the Co-founder of “The Women’s Executive Circle,” and “Women On Wall Street”, which cultivates high-profile Jewish women under the auspices of United Jewish Appeal. She is also a spokesperson for Insightec Targeted Ultrasound, a ground-breaking procedure for Essential Tremor she underwent in 2016.
Ms. Lebenthal’s first novel, “The Recessionistas,” a thriller set in Manhattan during the financial crisis, was published in August 2010.
A graduate of Princeton University with an A.B. in history, Ms. Lebenthal lives in New York City with her family.
In this episode, we discuss:
- Pros and cons of working in a family-owned business
- Women celebrating women in a man’s work environment
- How women’s work networks have changed over the years
- How to achieve top-level positions
- How being different can help you stand out among peers
- The value of promoting yourself
- The importance of building infrastructure through networking
- Leaving things behind to do what’s right for you
- Navigating entrepreneurship