{"id":2126,"date":"2026-07-27T08:25:01","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T06:25:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/macquarie-eyes-nuclear-outgoing-ceo-opens-the-door-to-atomic-investment\/"},"modified":"2026-07-27T08:25:01","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T06:25:01","slug":"macquarie-eyes-nuclear-outgoing-ceo-opens-the-door-to-atomic-investment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/macquarie-eyes-nuclear-outgoing-ceo-opens-the-door-to-atomic-investment\/","title":{"rendered":"Macquarie eyes nuclear: outgoing CEO opens the door to atomic investment"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Shemara Wikramanayake<\/strong> will step down as CEO of <strong>Macquarie Group<\/strong> in November, holding 1.47 million shares in the company worth approximately A$373 million. She leaves after four decades at the same bank, having never sold a single share received as compensation. But the news that matters most to the energy sector is something else entirely: before her departure, the executive publicly stated her hope that Macquarie will move into nuclear energy financing.<\/p>\n<p>Wikramanayake&#8217;s stance comes as the Australian bank \u2014 long nicknamed the &#8220;millionaire factory&#8221; \u2014 is reassessing its energy exposure. <strong>Macquarie Capital<\/strong> already backs Paladin Energy, a company specialising in uranium mining and production for nuclear power generation. That support signals the group&#8217;s path toward nuclear is no longer purely theoretical. Having earned between A$24 million and A$30 million per year and serving as Australia&#8217;s highest-paid female executive for multiple years running, her words carry real institutional weight \u2014 even on the way out.<\/p>\n<p>The Australian context matters here. The nuclear debate in the country has reached a new pitch after the opposition proposed building atomic plants, including small modular reactors, prompting the formation of a dedicated parliamentary committee in 2024. Major financial players are watching closely. On the global stage, the International Energy Agency projects that worldwide clean energy investment will hit $3.3 trillion in 2025, with $2.2 trillion earmarked for renewables, nuclear and storage \u2014 twice the amount flowing to fossil fuels.<\/p>\n<p>Macquarie has already launched funds focused on the energy transition, including the <strong>Macquarie Energy Transition Infrastructure Fund<\/strong>, which targets low-carbon infrastructure. Adding nuclear to that mix would be consistent with the group&#8217;s trajectory: over recent years, it has built deep expertise across energy, commodities and infrastructure. The real question is whether the incoming CEO will act on Wikramanayake&#8217;s direction or simply continue along the existing roadmap.<\/p>\n<p>Whoever takes the helm will face a concrete decision. Nuclear is attracting private capital at an unprecedented pace globally, and a bank with Macquarie&#8217;s allocation capabilities could become a major player in financing new atomic projects \u2014 from SMRs to large-scale plants. The outgoing CEO&#8217;s endorsement is not a symbolic gesture: it is a clear signal of intent, aimed squarely at those who follow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Shemara Wikramanayake is stepping down as CEO of Macquarie Group in November, leaving with a stake worth over A$370 million and a clear message: nuclear energy should be part of the bank&#8217;s portfolio. Her call to action carries significant weight at one of the world&#8217;s most influential financial institutions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":2123,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Macquarie eyes nuclear: outgoing CEO opens the door to atomic investment - Energia nucleare<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Macquarie CEO Wikramanayake calls for nuclear energy investment before stepping down in November. 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