Cynthia Scott (formerly Whelan) was the managing director for Australia & New Zealand at Zip Co from November 2021 to August 2023 when she became the group chief executive and managing director, tasked with overseeing the Zip group's operations and strategy.
Prior to Zip Co, she was a group executive for Telstra's international and new businesses in September 2015 with responsibility for Telstra Ventures, Smart Home, Premium Services and Telstra Health. Ms Scott joined Telstra in August 2013 as group managing director of strategic finance, with responsibility for corporate strategy, M&A, treasury, investor relations and corporate development. Prior to Telstra, she was the chief executive for Barclays in Australia & New Zealand, and had an investment banking career at Merrill Lynch and UBS in Australia.
Ms Scott won the Women of the Year award for Outstanding Achievement globally within Barclays in 2011, and the Telstra Business Women's Award in the Hudson Private and Corporate Sector category in 2012.
She holds a Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in Finance and Japanese Studies, from the University of New South Wales; a Masters of Applied Finance from Macquarie University; and completed the Oxford Strategic Leadership Program in 2013.
