Adena Friedman

Adena Friedman
Born	Adena Robinson Testa Template:Birth year and age
Birthplace	Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Nationality	American
Occupation	Chair and CEO of Nasdaq, Inc.
Known for	First woman to lead a major global exchange
Education	Vanderbilt University (BA), Columbia Business School (MBA)
Children	2
Awards	Forbes Power Women list; Fortune Most Powerful Women list; American Banker Most Powerful Women in Finance
Website	[https://www.nasdaq.com/about/our-people/adena-t.-friedman Official site]

Adena T. Friedman (née Adena Robinson Testa; born 1969) is an American business executive who serves as the Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Nasdaq, Inc., the global technology company that operates the Nasdaq Stock Market and provides technology, data, and analytics services to capital markets worldwide. Friedman made history in January 2017 when she became the first woman to lead a major global securities exchange. Her career at Nasdaq spans more than three decades, beginning in 1993, with an intervening period at The Carlyle Group, where she served as a managing director and chief financial officer. Under her leadership, Nasdaq has evolved from a traditional stock exchange into a diversified technology and analytics company, expanding into areas including compliance software, anti-financial crime solutions, and artificial intelligence applications. Forbes has repeatedly recognized Friedman on its annual Power Women list, ranking her 45th on the 2025 edition.

Early Life

Adena Robinson Testa was born in 1969 in Baltimore, Maryland, to parents Adena W. Testa and Michael D. Testa. She grew up in the Baltimore area and attended Alford Lake Camp in Maine during her youth, an experience she has cited as formative in developing her leadership skills and self-confidence.

Friedman has spoken publicly about the values instilled in her during her upbringing, including a strong work ethic and intellectual curiosity. Growing up in Baltimore, a city with deep ties to American commerce and industry, she developed an early interest in business and finance. Her path toward the financial services industry began to take shape during her undergraduate and graduate studies, where she focused on economics and business.

Education

Friedman attended Vanderbilt University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree. She subsequently pursued graduate studies at Columbia Business School, earning a Master of Business Administration (MBA). Her education at two of the United States' prominent academic institutions provided a foundation in economics, finance, and management that would inform her subsequent career in financial markets and technology.

Career

Early Career at Nasdaq (1993–2011)

Friedman joined Nasdaq in 1993, the same year she married Michael Friedman. Over the course of nearly two decades at the company, she rose through the ranks, holding a series of increasingly senior positions. During this initial tenure, she gained deep expertise in the operations, technology, and business strategy of financial exchanges and capital markets. She developed a thorough understanding of the complex infrastructure that underpins modern securities trading, from market surveillance systems to listing services.

During her first period at Nasdaq, the company underwent significant transformation. The exchange transitioned from a dealer-based market to an electronic trading platform, and Friedman was involved in many of the strategic and operational changes that accompanied this evolution. Her work during this era helped shape Nasdaq's identity as a technology-forward exchange, distinguishing it from more traditional competitors.

By the time she departed Nasdaq in 2011, Friedman had established herself as one of the most senior female executives in the global financial exchange industry, with broad experience spanning multiple divisions of the company.

The Carlyle Group (2011–2014)

In 2011, Friedman left Nasdaq to join The Carlyle Group, one of the world's largest private equity firms, where she served as a managing director and chief financial officer. At Carlyle, she was responsible for overseeing the firm's financial operations and played a role in the company's public listing and financial strategy. The position gave her exposure to a different segment of the financial services industry, including private equity, alternative investments, and the operational challenges of managing a publicly traded investment firm.

Her time at Carlyle broadened her executive experience beyond the exchange business, providing her with insights into corporate finance, investor relations, and the management of a global financial services organization. This period proved to be a significant chapter in her professional development, adding to her credentials as a versatile financial executive.

Return to Nasdaq and Rise to CEO (2014–2017)

In May 2014, Friedman returned to Nasdaq, joining as President of Global Corporate and Information Technology Solutions. In this role, she oversaw Nasdaq's corporate solutions business and its growing technology services division, which provided market infrastructure technology to exchanges and financial institutions around the world.

Her return to Nasdaq came at a time when the company was in the midst of a broader strategic transformation, seeking to diversify its revenue beyond traditional exchange operations and into areas such as technology licensing, data analytics, and corporate governance services. Friedman played a central role in shaping and executing this strategy.

On November 14, 2016, Nasdaq announced that Friedman had been named as the company's next CEO, effective January 2017, succeeding Robert Greifeld, who had led the company since 2003. The appointment made her the first woman to serve as CEO of a major global securities exchange, a milestone that attracted significant media attention.

The Wall Street Journal characterized the challenge facing Friedman upon assuming the CEO role as nothing less than "reimagining the stock exchange," reflecting the broader industry shifts that were transforming the business of operating financial markets.

Leadership as CEO and Chair

Strategic Transformation

Under Friedman's leadership, Nasdaq has continued its transformation from a traditional securities exchange into a diversified global technology company. She has pursued an aggressive strategy of acquisitions and organic growth aimed at expanding Nasdaq's presence in financial technology, data analytics, compliance software, and anti-financial crime solutions.

Friedman has pursued what The Wall Street Journal described as a "black belt in dealmaking," executing a series of significant acquisitions to build out Nasdaq's technology and data capabilities. This dealmaking strategy has been central to Nasdaq's evolution, as the company has sought to build recurring revenue streams from software and data services rather than relying solely on transaction-based exchange revenue.

In addition to expanding through acquisitions, Friedman has also focused on winning exchange business from competitors. According to American Banker, under her leadership Nasdaq has succeeded in attracting exchange business from rival New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), while simultaneously diversifying the company's offerings with compliance software and anti-financial crime technology.

Technology and Artificial Intelligence

Friedman has been a prominent advocate for the adoption of technology and artificial intelligence in financial markets. In January 2026, she spoke at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where she discussed AI transformation and regulatory reforms in the financial industry. In a separate interview with Semafor at Davos, she described the adoption of AI in enterprises as "a massive change management exercise" and characterized the funding of AI development as a "marathon" rather than a sprint.

At the 2025 All-In Summit, Friedman delivered remarks on the forces reshaping global markets, addressing the intersection of technology, regulation, and market structure.

Blockchain and Digital Assets

Friedman has also articulated a vision for how blockchain technology could reshape the traditional financial system. In November 2025, she outlined three key ways blockchain could improve finance: by overhauling post-trade processes, enhancing transparency, and improving the efficiency of financial infrastructure. Her willingness to engage with emerging financial technologies has positioned Nasdaq as a participant in discussions about the future of capital markets infrastructure.

IPO Market and Regulatory Engagement

In December 2025, Friedman hosted U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Paul S. Atkins at Nasdaq to discuss strategies for revitalizing the initial public offering (IPO) market. The event, timed to celebrate 250 years of the United States, focused on how to "make IPOs great again" and addressed regulatory and structural factors affecting public listings.

Friedman has maintained an active relationship with regulators and policymakers throughout her tenure. In 2018, she was appointed to the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, reflecting her standing in the financial industry and her expertise in market structure and technology.

Financial Performance

Friedman has overseen strong financial performance at Nasdaq during her tenure as CEO. In discussing fourth-quarter 2025 results, she expressed optimism about the company's trajectory, stating that she saw "a lot of momentum going into 2026."

Public Thought Leadership

Beyond her corporate responsibilities, Friedman has been active as a public speaker and thought leader on topics related to capitalism, markets, and economic policy. She delivered a TED talk addressing the future of capitalism, in which she discussed how market systems can be modernized to better serve society. She also contributed an essay to The Economist publication The World In 2020, presenting ideas for modernizing capitalism.

In March 2020, during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, Friedman was featured in The New York Times "Corner Office" column, where she discussed leadership challenges during a period of extraordinary market volatility and disruption.

Board and Advisory Positions

In addition to her role at Nasdaq, Friedman has served on several external boards and advisory bodies. She was appointed to the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in November 2018. She has also served as a board director and strategic advisor to FCLTGlobal (Focusing Capital on the Long Term), an organization dedicated to encouraging long-term approaches to business and investment decision-making.

Personal Life

Friedman married Michael Friedman in August 1993. The couple has two children. She has maintained a connection to Alford Lake Camp in Maine, where she attended as a young person, and has spoken about the role the camp played in her personal development.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Friedman discussed publicly the challenges of leading a critical financial infrastructure company during a global crisis, providing insight into how she managed both the professional demands of keeping markets functioning and the personal challenges of the period.

Recognition

Friedman has received extensive recognition for her leadership in the financial industry. Forbes has repeatedly included her on its annual Power Women list, which ranks the most powerful women in the world. She was ranked 43rd on the 2023 edition of Forbes' "World's 100 Most Powerful Women" list, and rose to 45th on the 2025 edition.

American Banker named Friedman the sixth most powerful woman in finance in its 2025 rankings, citing her success in both growing Nasdaq's exchange business and diversifying the company into compliance software and anti-financial crime technology.

Her appointment as CEO of Nasdaq in 2017 was itself a milestone, as she became the first woman to serve as chief executive of a major global securities exchange. The BBC covered her leadership and role at Nasdaq as part of broader reporting on women in senior positions in the global financial industry.

Her appointment to the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in 2018 further reflected her standing within the financial regulatory and policy community.

Legacy

Adena Friedman's tenure at Nasdaq has coincided with and contributed to a fundamental shift in the nature of securities exchanges. Under her leadership, Nasdaq has evolved from an organization defined primarily by its role as a stock exchange into a global technology company that provides market infrastructure, data analytics, compliance solutions, and anti-financial crime technology to clients around the world.

Her appointment as the first woman to lead a major global exchange in 2017 represented a significant moment in the history of financial markets, an industry that has historically been male-dominated at its most senior levels. Since that appointment, she has consistently been recognized as one of the most powerful women in global business and finance.

Friedman's public commentary on topics ranging from the future of capitalism to the potential of artificial intelligence and blockchain technology has positioned her as one of the more prominent voices in discussions about the evolution of financial markets. Her emphasis on technology as a driver of market modernization has been a defining theme of her leadership, reflecting broader trends in the financial industry toward digitization, automation, and data-driven decision-making.

Her role on the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and her advisory work with organizations such as FCLTGlobal indicate an engagement with financial policy and long-term investment thinking that extends beyond her corporate responsibilities at Nasdaq.