The Saudi-born CEO holds the accolade of being the first woman in the Gulf to head up an investment bank.
As the leader of Gulf One Investment Bank, which she co-founded in 2005 after a tenure as a senior economist at Saudi Arabia’s NCB, Taher was the first of a growing number of women to break the glass ceiling. She turned down a high-powered job with the International Monetary Fund before taking the job with NCB, saying at the time that she wanted to “do something for my own country”. Having excelled in a male-dominated field, Taher is also a strong advocate for a greater role for women in the kingdom.
