Barbara M. Byrne

Notable work and positions

Paramount Skydance Corp. (formerly Paramount Global / ViacomCBS) - Independent Director, Chair of the Audit Committee (2018-present)
Barclays PLC - Vice Chairman of Investment Banking
Lehman Brothers - Vice Chairman of Investment Banking

Biography

Barbara M. Byrne is a finance executive and corporate director who has served since 2018 as an independent director of Paramount Global (later Paramount Skydance Corp., formerly ViacomCBS), where she chairs the Audit Committee. Born and raised in a working-class family in Holyoke, Massachusetts, she graduated magna cum laude from Mount Holyoke College in 1976 with a degree in economics and later earned an MBA from New York University while working. She began her career at Mobil Corporation before joining Lehman Brothers' Energy Group in 1980 as the only woman among seven in her associate class, going on to hold senior leadership roles in the firm's Energy and Technology investment banking groups and becoming the first woman named Vice Chairman of Investment Banking at Lehman Brothers. She later became the first woman named Vice Chairman of Investment Banking at Barclays PLC, where she also co-chaired the firm's Senior Client Coverage Council and led its engagement with the World Economic Forum's Gender Parity Task Force in Davos. American Banker named her among the top five of its "25 Most Powerful Women in Finance" for eight consecutive years through 2017 and gave her its Lifetime Achievement Award in Finance in 2018. In addition to her Paramount board seat, Byrne serves as an independent director of PowerSchool Holdings and LanzaTech Global, is a trustee of the Institute of International Education, and is a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She provides regular market commentary for Bloomberg and CNBC.