Wall Street pioneer Muriel Siebert, 84, dies NEW YORK, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- Muriel Siebert, the first woman to buy a seat on the New York Stock Exchange, has died of complications from cancer in New York, a friend said. U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker called Siebert, who died Saturday, "a trailblazer whose business acumen and indomitable spirit made her a legend on Wall Street and a hero for the many women who followed her into business and the financial industry." "The first woman to buy a seat on the New York Stock Exchange, to own and operate a brokerage firm that was a member of the Exchange, and to serve as superintendent of banking for the state of New York, she broadened opportunities for women throughout the country by constantly challenging the status quo," Pritzker said in a statement. Her pioneering career and accomplishments will forever be an inspiration to me and countless other Americans. Jane H. Macon, a friend and board member of Siebert's firm, the Siebert Financial Corp., said Siebert died in Manhattan, The New York Times reported. The newspaper said Siebert never rested in her fight to gain gender equality on Wall Street. "Firms are doing what they have to do, legally," she once said. But women are coming into Wall Street in large numbers -- and they still are not making partner and are not getting into the positions that lead to the executive suites. There's still an old-boy network. You just have to keep fighting. Siebert never married or had children. She is survived by a sister, Elaine Siebert.