Wilma Porter Soss

Wilma Porter Soss (March 13, 1900 – October 10, 1986) was an American shareholder activist. She worked in public relations before committing to shareholder activism full time in the late 1940s. Soss held stock in over 100 American corporations and regularly attended shareholder meetings for many of those companies, where she advocated for changes such as increased representation of women on their boards of directors. Soss founded and chaired the Federation of Women Shareholders in American Business as part of her advocacy.

Soss's work inspired the Broadway play and 1956 film The Solid Gold Cadillac.

Early life Wilma Porter was born to Clara and George Edison Porter, possibly on March 13, 1900, in San Francisco. Her father worked as a photographer. and Wilma moved to New York City to live with her grandmother, in Park Slope, Brooklyn. In Brooklyn, she attended the Manual Training High School. whom she married in 1923. In 1947, Soss founded the Federation of Women Shareholders in American Business (FWSAB), and was elected its first president on October 28, 1948. At other times she challenged corporate leaders as overpaid.

In 1954, Soss began a weekly radio show on NBC Radio Network, called "Pocketbook News". Every 10-minute episode discussed economic issues. The show lasted until 1980.

Her papers are held by the University of Wyoming's American Heritage Center.