'Move beyond mentorship and toward ownership': Melania Trump at NYSE

NEW YORK −First lady Melania Trump rang the ceremonial opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange, surrounded by high-powered leaders ahead of the launch of an initiative for women CEOs and top C-suite executives on Sept. 23.

Throughout the trading floor and even the exterior of the NYSE building displayed the name of the initiative with a tagline: “IMPERIA: The women who determine the next decade of business.”

Trump, dressed in a navy blue pinstripe suit skirt and Christian Louboutin stilettos, also delivered a keynote address at the NYSE surrounded by high-powered women including Lisa Su, CEO of Advanced Micro Devices.

Two days earlier, the chipmaker AMD crossed $1 trillion market capitalization for the first time.

"For generations, women fought for a seat at the table. The next chapter is about owning, growing and making space for the women who come next," said Trump. "That means owning businesses, equity, real estate, capital and investment assets. It also means owning our ideas, our intellectual property and our economic future. People still do not fully understand the full scale of women's power in the global economy."

Lynn Martin, president of the NYSE Group, who introduced the first lady, pointed to the fact that only 48 women are serving as CEOs across the S&P 500, making up 9.6% of all chief executive roles.

"Half the population, increasingly outpacing men in educational attainment, remain dramatically underrepresented in the rooms where the biggest capital decisions get in," she said. "And that's not just a fairness problem; it's an efficiency problem. It means companies and shareholders are leaving value on the table by not drawing fully from our great nation's talent pool."

The first lady previously rang the opening bell at the NYSE in January to celebrate the launch of her film 'MELANIA.'

Marc Beckman, an adviser to Melania Trump, said: “She understands the extraordinary influence women wield across global markets and the importance of women advancing one another through commerce, leadership, and opportunity.”

The first lady urged the women in the room to turn their individual success into a collective opportunity.

"Now is our time to move beyond mentorship and toward ownership," she said. "Do not simply advise another woman. Invest in them. Turn networks into tangible value, capital, customers, contracts, knowledge and success."

Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is a White House correspondent for USA TODAY. You can follow her on X @SwapnaVenugopal.