The first woman to ever be a CEO, Katharine Meyer Graham of The Washington Post, was in 1972. To put this in perspective, the role of “Chief Executive Officer,” was used in an ordinance of United States Congress in 1782. It wasn’t until 1999 that a woman, Carly Fiorina, became the CEO of a Fortune-20 company. As time goes on, more and more female CEOs are popping up.
#7 Mary Barra
- Net Worth: $229 Million
- Company: General Motors
- Age: 62
Mary Barra became General Motors’ (NYSE:GM) CEO in 2014. She was the first woman to ever lead one of the “Big Three,” American automakers. She has focused on investing in self-driving and electric cars and has vowed to produce 1 million electric vehicles by the end of 2025. She is also the chair of a collection of America’s most powerful corporate CEOs called Business Roundtable.
#6 Gail Koziara Boudreaux
- Net Worth: $235 Million
- Company: Elevance Health
- Age: 64
Gail Bourdeaux was the CEO of United Healthcare until 2017 when she was named CEO of Elevance Health (previously known as Anthem). She has led Elevance Health through several acquisitions including HealthSun, Aspire Health, and America’s 1st Choice. In the first two years of her reign, Elevance’s stock increased by 20%. She also founded GKB Global Health, LLC. In 2023, she was ranked 10th on Fortune’s list of Most Powerful Women. one of the Most Powerful People in Healthcare by Modern Health in 2021 and is also the first female elected chair of The Business Council.
#5 Adena Friedman
- Net Worth: $170 Million
- Company: Nasdaq
- Age: 55
In addition to being the CEO of Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ), and a board member of the NY Federal Reserve, she is also the first female CEO in charge of an international stock exchange. Friedman refers to Nasdaq as an “engine for capitalism,” she is focused on diversifying Nasdaq to include technology, growth opportunities, data research services, and making the public market more accessible and helping companies more easily invest.
#4 Jane Fraser
- Net Worth: $13.6 Million
- Company: Citigroup
- Age: 57
Jane Fraser has been the CEO of Citigroup (NYSE:C) since March 2021. She is the company’s first CEO, as well as the first woman to lead a Wall Street Bank. Fraser was made CEO when Citigroup was in crisis after a billion-dollar error scandal. Since taking up, Citi’s stock has increased by over 50%, experienced two consecutive 5% earnings growth quarters, laid off 200,000 employees, and is still working to recover Citigroup.
#3 Abigail Johnson
- Net Worth: $30.4 Billion
- Company: Fidelity Investment
- Age: 62
After her father stepped down from the position of CEO in 2014, she took over as the company’s CEO and then also the Chairman in 2016. Her willingness to steer the company towards cryptocurrency led to the launch of a cryptocurrency platform in 2018 where investors can trade bitcoin, a move that paid off for Fidelity Investment (NYSE:FNF). She earned her M.B.A. from Harvard in 1988 and is the third CEO, as her grandfather founded the company in 1946. She personally manages discretionary assets that total an estimated $4.5 Trillion.
#2 Karen Lynch
- Net Worth: $70 Million
- Company: CVS Health
- Age: 60
Karen Lynch has been the CEO of CVS (NYSE:CVS) since February 2021. She started her career at Ernst & Young as a public accountant and is now the leader of a company with over 300,000 employees. Some of her greatest accomplishments in her CEO role so far have been acquiring Signify Health and Oak Street Health.
#1 Virginia Rometty
- Net Worth: $90 Million
- Company: IBM
- Age: 67
Virginia “Ginni” Rommetty is the first woman to hold the positions of President, Chair, and CEO of a company simultaneously. She has brought great success to IBM (NYSE:IBM) and led it through the transition to a data company. Her instincts led her to invest in blockchain and quantum computing to bring cognitive computing to the center of IBM. One of her crowning achievements at IBM so far was leading the purchase of Red Hat in 2018 which gave them the leg up to be a valid competitor to Microsoft and Amazon in the cloud computing market. Besides being a successful leader, she has also incorporated strategies to keep women at IBM by creating a breastmilk delivery program, extended paid parental leave, and a returnship program.
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