Stephanie Cohen

In May, Cohen was named global head of M&A for financial sponsors at Goldman Sachs, which usually leads all of Wall Street in the category (essentially, M&A done by private equity firms). The high-profile role was arguably created with her in mind: Cohen started with Goldman as an analyst in 1999 and quickly rose through the ranks to partner and co-head of industrials M&A — an area where financial sponsors like private equity firms are a constant presence. Now she leads a new team that is bridging Goldman’s industry-specific M&A functions with its financial sponsors groups, helping both and increasing efficiencies for clients. “It’s kind of a startup within Goldman,” she says. “We’re still working on the same sorts of deal, but now doing it in a different, better way.”