Mary Vilakazi

As a high school student in Johannesburg, Mary Vilakazi first saw herself becoming a lawyer, then dreamed of becoming a psychologist—an occupation that “grabbed my heart,” she recently explained on a South African webcast. Vilakazi, who became CEO of FirstRand Group in 2024, sees the influence of that early interest in her success: Leading and developing people is her “sweet spot,” she said. That passion has helped Vilakazi become the first woman and first Black woman to run the R$400 billion ($20 billion) financial institution, which owns several banks and operates across multiple sub-Saharan African countries, as well as in India and the U.K.