Gail Kelly (; born 25 April 1956) is a South African-born Australian businesswoman. In 2002, she became the first female CEO of a major Australian bank or top 15 company, and in 2005 was the highest-paid woman in an Australian corporation. She is the former CEO of Westpac, a role she held from 2008 to 2015. In 2010 Kelly was named 8th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes; in 2014, she was listed in 56th place.
Early life and education
Gail Currer was born in Pretoria, South Africa. Currer attended the University of Cape Town where she undertook an arts degree, majoring in history and Latin, as well as a Diploma in Education. in 1986 while pregnant with her oldest daughter and graduated with distinction in 1987.
Her performance at the Commonwealth Bank led her to be recruited as CEO of St. George Bank (after the death of the incumbent CEO from a heart attack). She commenced in January 2002 – at the time, St. George was seen as a possible takeover target (especially after the purchase of Colonial State Bank by the Commonwealth Bank) but Kelly increased the bank's profitability and achieved much higher levels on return on assets. She started work as Westpac CEO on 1 February 2008. The merger was approved by the Federal Court of Australia and finalised on 26 May 2008. The merger resulted in the new combined Westpac Group having 10 million customers, a 25% share of the Australian home loans market and with $108 billion investment funds under its administration.
On 13 November 2014, Kelly announced that she would retire as CEO of the Westpac Group on 1 February 2015. Brian Hartzer, the head of Westpac's Australian financial services group, was appointed as her replacement.
Kelly joined the board of UBS in 2024.
Book
In August 2017, Kelly's memoir, Live Lead Learn: My Stories of Life and Leadership was published by Viking. The book details her experiences of being a high-profile businesswoman and a mother of four.
Impact and influence
In 2010 Kelly was named 8th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes; in 2014, she was listed was 56th place.
Ranking
Forbes - Most Powerful Women in the World
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year !! Ranking !! Related article
|-
| 2014 || 56 ||
|-
| 2013 || 62 ||
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| 2009 || 18 ||
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| 2008 || 11 ||
|}
Fortune - Various
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year !! Title !! Ranking !! Related article
|-
| 2014 || The World's 50 Greatest Leaders || 49 ||
|-
| 2014 || Most Powerful Women of Asia-Pacific || 1 ||
|-
| 2014 || 50 Most Powerful Women – Global Edition || 10 ||
|-
| 2013 || 50 Most Powerful Women in Business: The Global 50 || 3 ||
|-
| 2012 || 50 Most Powerful Women in Business – Global List || 2 ||
|-
| 2011 || International Power 50 || 2 ||
|-
| 2010 || 50 Most Powerful Women – International Power 50 || 2 ||
|-
| 2009 || 50 Most Powerful Women in Business – Global List || 2 ||
|-
| 2008 || 50 Most Powerful Women in Business – Global List || 2 ||
|-
| 2007 || 50 Most Powerful Women: The Global Power 50 || 28 ||
|}
Financial Times
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year !! Title !! Ranking
|-
| 2011 || The Top 50 Women in World Business || 12
|-
| 2010 || The Top 50 Women in World Business || 17
|}
The Australian Financial Review/Boss Magazine
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year !! Title !! Ranking
|-
| 2010 || True Leaders: Staying Power || No rank
|-
| 2008 || AFR Magazine List: Sectoral Power: Financial Services || 2
|-
| 2007 || AFR Boss True Leaders – Hall of Fame || Top 25
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| 2005 || AFR Boss True Leaders || No rank
|-
| 2004 || AFR Magazine List: Sectoral Power: Financial Services || No rank
|-
| 2003 || AFR Boss True Leaders List || No rank
|}
Other Australian newspapers
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year !! Title !! Ranking
|-
| Feb 2015 || The Australian's Deal Magazine – 50 Most Powerful Women in Australian Business || 40
|-
| March 2013 || The Australian Newspaper – List of the 50 Most Influential People in Politics || 46
|-
| 2011 || The Sydney Morning Herald – 50 Women of Influence || n/a
|-
| 2003 || Daily Telegraph – Sydney's Most Powerful Operators || n/a
|}
Other publications
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year !! Title !! Ranking !! Related article
|-
| 2014 || Morningstar – CEO of the Year || Joint runner-up ||
|-
| 2014 || Australian Women Online – Power List || 4 ||
|-
| 2013 || Crikey – Power 50 Index || 20 ||
|-
| 2011 || Insto Magazine – Banker of the Year || 1 ||
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| 2010 || Australian Women's Weekly – 6 Women of Influence || No rank ||
|-
| 2007 || Bulletin Magazine – 50 Most Influential in Business || 9 ||
|-
| 2007 || Australian Women's Weekly – List of the 10 Most Powerful Women || No rank ||
|-
| 2005 || Australian Banking & Finance Magazine – Best Financial Services Executive || 1 ||
|-
| 2004 || Bulletin Magazine – Smartest People List || 'Heads up the business category...’ with Chip Goodyear. ||
|-
| 2004 || Australian Banking & Finance Magazine – Best Financial Services Executive || 1 ||
|-
| 2003 || Australian Banking & Finance Magazine – Best Financial Services Executive || 1 ||
|-
| 2002 || Business Review Weekly – Top 20 Most Powerful Women in Australian Business || 4 ||
|}
References
External links
<!---need to be checked for currency and reduced, per WP:EL--->
- Crown Content, Who's Who in Australia 2005, North Melbourne, page 1050
- Melbourne Age profile of Gail Kelly, 2 July 2005
- ABC Australia Business Breakfast transcript 7 May 2003
- Sydney Morning Herald article on Kelly's contract extension at St George in November 2004
- Weekend Australian story about Kelly being a favourite to succeed David Murray at the Commonwealth Bank