What does it take to lead one of the world’s largest financial marketplaces? For Adena Friedman, chief executive of Nasdaq, the answer has been equal parts curiosity, calculated risk-taking, and a career shaped by unexpected turns.
As CEO of Nasdaq, Friedman leads a workforce of roughly 10,000 employees worldwide at one of the world’s largest exchange operators, home to many of the globe’s most prominent technology companies.
“I really come to work every day with the right attitude; I have a lot of energy,” she said during a fireside chat with David Rubenstein at a dinner hosted by the Economic Club of Washington, D.C., on March 11.
Her career journey reflects that mindset. Friedman first joined Nasdaq in 2000 as executive vice president of corporate strategy and data products and later became chief financial officer in 2009. Two years later, a cold call from a headhunter redirected her trajectory.
“They asked, ‘What would you think about working for the best private equity firm in the country to help them go public?’” she recalled.
That call led her to The Carlyle Group, the private equity firm co-founded by Rubenstein, where she served as chief financial officer and managing director. In that role, she helped guide the firm through its 2012 initial public offering.
While she enjoyed helping the firm go public, Friedman said the experience clarified the type of role she preferred.
The role of a CFO is much more about risk management, Friedman said. “I realized I really liked risk-taking more than risk management,” she said.
When then-Nasdaq CEO Bob Greifeld began planning his succession, the exchange invited Friedman back as president and chief operating officer in 2014, with the possibility that she could eventually lead the company. In 2017, she stepped into the chief executive role, becoming the first woman to lead the global exchange operator.
When asked whether she had encountered gender bias, Friedman said she never experienced discrimination within Nasdaq. But early in her career, while working in male-dominated trading environments, she said she felt the need to establish credibility quickly.
“I remember thinking to myself that when I got in the room, within five minutes, I wanted them to forget I was a woman and just focus on what I had to say,” she said.
Her strategy centered on preparation and confidence.
She explained: “You walk in with an attitude like, ‘I have something worth saying. I have expertise in this area. I want to make sure they are willing and able to listen.’ And it did work. It worked really well.”
Friedman credits her mother with showing her what confidence in action looks like. “My mom had been a stay-at-home mom until I was nine, and then she decided to go back to law school,” Friedman explained. “She went to the University of Maryland School of Law and became a lawyer when I was 11.”
Her mother later became a partner—the first woman to do so at her firm.
“She became this incredibly confident woman who could take on anything,” Friedman said.
That example left a lasting impression. Throughout her career, Friedman said confidence and preparation have remained essential tools.
