Wall Street's 'most powerful woman' is Google's new finance chief

Ruth Porat swaps Wall Street for Silicon Valley after almost three decades at Morgan Stanley, prompting Google shares to rise 1.8%

Ruth Porat, the Morgan Stanley chief financial officer often called "the most powerful woman on Wall Street", is joining Google as its finance chief.

Porat, 57, who has been at Morgan Stanley since 1987 and advised the US government on its rescue of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during the 2008 financial crisis, will join Google on 26 May. She will report directly to Google chief executive and co-founder Larry Page.