Muriel Siebert collection

Muriel F. Siebert (1928-2013) was an American businesswoman, philanthropist, and lifelong advocate for women and business, financial education, and small business ownership. The daughter of Dr. Irwin J. (Jackson) Siebert (1891-1949), a dentist and inventor, and Margaret (Roseman) Siebert (1896-1977), Muriel Siebert was born September 12, 1928 in Cleveland, Ohio. She attended Western Reserve (now Case Western Reserve University) for two years but dropped out to move to New York City. Living with her sister Elaine when she first arrived in New York City, Siebert eventually landed a position with Bache & Co. (1954-1957), where she started out as a trainee in the research department and was eventually promoted to Securities Analyst and Industry Specialist in charge of airlines, motion pictures, and investment trusts. She then joined Selig Altschul (1957-1958) and then moved onto Shields & Co. (1958-1960) and Stearns & Co. (1960-1962), eventually becoming one of the first woman general partners of the firm. After Stearns & Co., Siebert moved onto Finkle & Co. (1962-1965) and then Brimberg & Co. (1965-1967). She was promoted to General Partner during her tenure in both firms.

On December 28, 1967, Siebert made history when she bought a seat on the New York Stock Exchange and became the first woman member. Muriel Siebert & Co. was incorporated on June 16, 1969. In 1975, the first day that the New York Stock Exchange member firms were permitted to negotiate commissions, Muriel Siebert & Co. became one of the first to announce that it would become a discount brokerage firm. It eventually became one of the world’s largest discount brokerage firms. Siebert took a leave from her firm in 1977 to serve five years as Superintendent of the Banks of New York. During this time the firm was in a blind trust and when Siebert resigned as Superintendent in 1982 to run for U.S. Senate and subsequently lost, she came back to the firm and had to rebuild it.

In addition to overseeing the operations of Muriel Siebert & Co., Siebert was active in both professional and civic activities. She had long-term relationships with and personal involvement in a variety of groups, committees, associations, and other non-profit organizations that she was a member of, was involved with, or was solicited to speak at or attend. As a dedicated supporter of advancing women’s leadership in business and finance, Siebert was a charter member of the Women’s Forum, was a founding member of the International Women’s Forum, and helped found the Committee of 200, a networking organization for women in business. She was a featured lecturer at several schools and universities including Harvard Business School, The New School of Social Research, and Boston, Massachusetts based Simmons College (now Simmons University), and was frequently sought out and interviewed for pieces in print, television and radio.

As a proponent of financial fluency and empowerment, in 1999 Siebert developed The Personal Finance Program. It began as a financial-management-skills program taught in New York City high schools, but eventually expanded to other states and was taught to a range of audiences including middle school students and adults, often in cooperation with other non-profit organizations. She also established the Siebert Entrepreneurial Philanthropic Plan (SEPP) in 1990 with the idea of giving charities chosen by institutional investors affiliated with Muriel Siebert & Co. one-half of the firm’s profits from selling new issues of securities.

Siebert died in New York City on August 24, 2013.