The World's Top Women Business Leaders
Posted by
WWSG Staff on Thu, Sep 01, 2011 @ 11:13 AM
Forbes magazine recently published its annual World's 100 Most Powerful Women list, a ranking that spans countries, industries and spheres of influence. After ceding the top spot to Michelle Obama last year after a four-year reign, Germany's Angela Merkel again returns to the number one position for 2011. However, there are some definite surprises in this year's list including a number of fresh faces, savvy up-and-comers as well as some notable drop-offs.
Here is the complete list; full profile information for each woman can be found on Forbes' website.
| Rank | Name | Age | Country | Category |
|---|
| 1 |
Angela Merkel
Chancellor
|
57 |
Germany |
Politics |
| 2 |
Hillary Clinton
Secretary of State
|
63 |
United States |
Politics |
| 3 |
Dilma Rousseff
President
|
63 |
Brazil |
Politics |
| 4 |
Indra Nooyi
Chief Executive, PepsiCo
|
55 |
United States |
Business |
| 5 |
Sheryl Sandberg
COO, Facebook
|
42 |
United States |
Business |
| 6 |
Melinda Gates
Cofounder, Cochair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
|
47 |
United States |
Non-Profit |
| 7 |
Sonia Gandhi
President
|
64 |
India |
Politics |
| 8 |
Michelle Obama
First Lady
|
47 |
United States |
Politics |
| 9 |
Christine Lagarde
Managing Director, International Monetary Fund
|
55 |
France |
Non-Profit |
| 10 |
Irene Rosenfeld
CEO, Kraft Foods
|
58 |
United States |
Business |
| 11 |
Lady Gaga
Entertainer
|
25 |
United States |
Celebrity/Lifestyle |
| 12 |
Jill Abramson
Executive Editor, NY Times
|
57 |
United States |
Media |
| 13 |
Kathleen Sebelius
Secretary of Health and Human Services
|
63 |
United States |
Politics |
| 14 |
Oprah Winfrey
Media Personality
|
57 |
United States |
Media |
| 15 |
Janet Napolitano
Secretary of Homeland Security
|
53 |
United States |
Politics |
| 16 |
Susan Wojcicki
SVP, Advertising, Google
|
43 |
United States |
Business |
| 17 |
Cristina Fernandez
President
|
58 |
Argentina |
Politics |
| 18 |
Beyoncé Knowles
Entertainer, Designer
|
29 |
United States |
Celebrity/Lifestyle |
| 19 |
Georgina Rinehart
Mining Tycoon
|
57 |
Australia |
Billionaire |
| 20 |
Cher Wang
Cofounder, Chair, HTC; VIA Technologies
|
52 |
Taiwan |
Business |
| 21 |
Margaret Hamburg
Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration
|
56 |
United States |
Politics |
| 22 |
Michele Bachmann
Presidential Candidate
|
55 |
United States |
Politics |
| 23 |
Julia Gillard
Prime Minister
|
49 |
Australia |
Politics |
| 24 |
Mary Schapiro
Chair, Securities and Exchange Commission
|
56 |
United States |
Politics |
| 25 |
Anne Sweeney
Co-Chair of Disney Media Networks; President, Disney-ABC Television Group
|
53 |
United States |
Business |
| 26 |
Aung San Suu Kyi
General Secretary, National League For Democracy
|
66 |
Myanmar |
Politics |
| 27 |
Ursula Burns
CEO, Xerox
|
52 |
United States |
Business |
| 28 |
Amy Pascal
Co-Chair, Sony Pictures
|
53 |
United States |
Business |
| 29 |
Angelina Jolie
Actress, Humanitarian
|
36 |
United States |
Celebrity/Lifestyle |
| 30 |
Josette Sheeran
Executive Director, UN World Food Programme
|
57 |
United States |
Non-Profit |
| 31 |
Arianna Huffington
Editor-In-Chief, AOL Huffington Post Media Group
|
61 |
United States |
Media |
| 32 |
Gail Kelly
CEO, Westpac Group
|
55 |
Australia |
Business |
| 33 |
Chan Laiwa & family
Chair, Fu Wah International Group
|
70 |
China |
Billionaire |
| 34 |
Sarah Palin
Political Commentator
|
47 |
United States |
Celebrity/Lifestyle |
| 35 |
Cynthia Carroll
CEO, Anglo American
|
54 |
United States |
Business |
| 36 |
Helene Gayle
CEO, CARE USA
|
56 |
United States |
Non-Profit |
| 37 |
Carol Bartz
CEO, Yahoo!
|
63 |
United States |
Business |
| 38 |
Ellen Kullman
CEO, Dupont
|
55 |
United States |
Business |
| 39 |
Jin Sook Chang
Cofounder, Chief Merchandising Officer, Forever 21
|
48 |
United States |
Business |
| 40 |
Safra Catz
President, Oracle
|
49 |
United States |
Business |
| 41 |
Angela Braly
CEO, Wellpoint
|
50 |
United States |
Business |
| 42 |
Marissa Mayer
VP, Local, Maps & Location Services, Google
|
36 |
United States |
Business |
| 43 |
Chanda Kochhar
CEO, ICICI Bank
|
49 |
India |
Business |
| 44 |
Christiane Amanpour
News Achor, This Week
|
53 |
United States |
Media |
| 45 |
Patricia Woertz
CEO, Archer Daniels Midland
|
58 |
United States |
Business |
| 46 |
Lynn Laverty Elsenhans
CEO, Sunoco
|
55 |
United States |
Business |
| 47 |
Diane Sawyer
News Anchor, World News
|
65 |
United States |
Media |
| 48 |
Zhang Xin & family
Cofounder, CEO, SOHO China
|
46 |
China |
Business |
| 49 |
Queen Elizabeth II
Monarch
|
85 |
United Kingdom |
Politics |
| 50 |
Helen Clark
Administrator, UN Development Programme
|
61 |
New Zealand |
Non-Profit |
| 51 |
Helen Boaden
Director, BBC News Group
|
55 |
United Kingdom |
Media |
| 52 |
Nancy Pelosi
Democratic Leader, House of Representatives
|
71 |
United States |
Politics |
| 53 |
Queen Rania Al Abdullah
Monarch
|
41 |
Jordan |
Politics |
| 54 |
Bonnie Hammer
Chairman, Cable Entertainment and Cable Studios, NBCU
|
61 |
United States |
Business |
| 55 |
Ellen DeGeneres
Talk Show Host
|
53 |
United States |
Celebrity/Lifestyle |
| 56 |
Katie Jacobs Stanton
VP, International Strategy, Twitter
|
41 |
United States |
Business |
| 57 |
Shari Arison
Heiress, Philanthropist
|
53 |
Israel |
Billionaire |
| 58 |
Angela Ahrendts
CEO, Burberry
|
51 |
United States |
Business |
| 59 |
Yingluck Shinawatra
Prime Minister
|
44 |
Thailand |
Politics |
| 60 |
Gisele Bündchen
Supermodel, Environmentalist
|
31 |
Brazil |
Celebrity/Lifestyle |
| 61 |
Joanne (J.K.) Rowling
Author
|
46 |
United Kingdom |
Celebrity/Lifestyle |
| 62 |
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
President
|
72 |
Liberia |
Politics |
| 63 |
Lubna S. Olayan
CEO, Olayan Financing Company
|
56 |
Saudi Arabia |
Business |
| 64 |
Andrea Jung
CEO, Avon
|
53 |
United States |
Business |
| 65 |
Sri Mulyani Indrawati
Managing Director, World Bank
|
49 |
Indonesia |
Non-Profit |
| 66 |
Ann Curry
Coanchor, TODAY show
|
54 |
United States |
Media |
| 67 |
Sallie Krawcheck
President, Global Wealth and Investment Management, Bank of America
|
46 |
United States |
Business |
| 68 |
Margaret Chan
Director-General, World Health Organization
|
64 |
China |
Non-Profit |
| 69 |
Anna Wintour
Editor-in-Chief, Vogue
|
61 |
United States |
Media |
| 70 |
Abigail Johnson
President, Fidelity Investments
|
49 |
United States |
Business |
| 71 |
Judith Rodin
President, The Rockefeller Foundation
|
66 |
United States |
Non-Profit |
| 72 |
Ho Ching
CEO, Temasek Holdings
|
58 |
Singapore |
Business |
| 73 |
Carol Meyrowitz
CEO, TJX Companies
|
57 |
United States |
Business |
| 74 |
Mary Callahan Erdoes
CEO, J.P. Morgan Asset Management
|
44 |
United States |
Business |
| 75 |
Greta Van Susteren
Host, On the Record
|
57 |
United States |
Media |
| 76 |
Mary Barra
SVP, Global Product Development, General Motors
|
49 |
United States |
Business |
| 77 |
Ana Patricia Botin
CEO, Santander UK
|
50 |
Spain |
Business |
| 78 |
Guler Sabanci & family
Chair, Sabanci Holding
|
56 |
Turkey |
Business |
| 79 |
Miuccia Prada
Chair, Head Designer, Prada Group
|
62 |
Italy |
Business |
| 80 |
Denise Morrison
CEO, Campbell Soup Company
|
57 |
United States |
Business |
| 81 |
Tina Brown
Editor-in-Chief, The Daily Beast, Newsweek
|
57 |
United States |
Media |
| 82 |
Virginia Rometty
SVP, Group Executive Sales, Marketing and Strategy , IBM
|
53 |
United States |
Business |
| 83 |
Drew Gilpin Faust
President, Harvard University
|
63 |
United States |
Non-Profit |
| 84 |
Sheri McCoy
Vice Chair Executive Committee, Johnson & Johnson
|
52 |
United States |
Business |
| 85 |
Alice Walton
Heiress, Art Patron
|
61 |
United States |
Billionaire |
| 86 |
Laura Chinchilla
President
|
52 |
Costa Rica |
Politics |
| 87 |
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
Finance Minister
|
57 |
Nigeria |
Politics |
| 88 |
Sue Naegle
President, HBO Entertainment
|
42 |
United States |
Business |
| 89 |
Mindy Grossman
CEO, HSN
|
53 |
United States |
Business |
| 90 |
Ruth Porat
CFO, Morgan Stanley
|
53 |
United States |
Business |
| 91 |
Diane Von Furstenberg
CEO, Diane Von Furstenberg Studio
|
64 |
United States |
Business |
| 92 |
Jan Fields
President, McDonald's USA
|
56 |
United States |
Business |
| 93 |
Maria Ramos
Group CEO, Absa Group Banks
|
52 |
South Africa |
Business |
| 94 |
Marjorie Scardino
CEO, Pearson
|
64 |
United States |
Business |
| 95 |
Risa Lavizzo-Mourey
CEO, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
|
56 |
United States |
Non-Profit |
| 96 |
Beth Mooney
CEO, KeyCorp
|
56 |
United States |
Business |
| 97 |
Nonkululeko Nyembezi-Heita
CEO, ArcelorMittal South Africa
|
52 |
South Africa |
Business |
| 98 |
Dominique Senequier
CEO, AXA Private Equity
|
58 |
France |
Business |
| 99 |
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw
Founder, Chair, Biocon
|
58 |
India |
Business |
| 100 |
Beth Brooke
Global Vice Chair, Ernst & Young
|
52 |
United States |
Business |