In the Company of Great Women!

The following is a list of the 10 most powerful women in business as listed in http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/fortune/0809/gallery.women_mostpowerful.fortune/index.html which listed 50 most powerful women in world business.

I thought I am quite well read as far as business is concerned until I read the whole list. My goodness! I am such an ignorant fool or at least an ignorant fool who assumes too much. Other than PepsiCo, Sara Lee, Kraft Foods, Avon and Harpo which I knew were helmed by women, I was totally (but pleasantly) surprised to see women behind the success of such great companies like Xerox, GE and IBM. These giants have women helming some of their most profitable businesses.

Interestingly from the list of 50, only two are blacks ( Oprah and Ursula Burns, President of Xerox) while Marissa Mayer of Google is the youngest at 33.

It was also reported that if the much anticipated ‘change’ of leadership from Anne Mulcahy to Ursula Burns takes place, it will be the first ever (I mean the first ever since Adam bossed around Eve) that a woman-to-woman CEO leadership change will take place.

OK…now for the list of the 10 greatest for 2008 with a little description of why they should be on the list. All information are quoted (sometimes verbatim) from the website as indicated above.


1. Indra NooyiChairman and CEO
PepsiCo (PEP)

Nooyi has moved swiftly to offset slowing beverage sales in North America by expanding the international business, which now represents 26% of revenues
2. Irene RosenfeldChairman and CEO
Kraft Foods (KFT)

Warren Buffett recently upped his stake to 9% so that should mean something. I think.
3. Pat Woertz
Chairman, President, and CEO
Archer Daniels Midland (ADM)
Woertz's $70 billion "supermarket to the world" ranks ahead of giants like PepsiCo and Intel on the Fortune 500.
4. Anne MulcahyChairman and CEO
Xerox (XRX)

A tough business climate sent Xerox's stock back to its 2006 levels, but Mulcahy is widely lauded for pulling off a full-scale turnaround since taking over in 2001.

5. Angela Braly
President and CEO
Wellpoint (WLP)

No really sure why she is on the list. The analysis given was not rosy.

6. Andrea JungChairman and CEO
Avon Products (AVP)

As part of a three-year extreme makeover, Jung trimmed management, invested $100 million in research facilities, and tripled ad spending. In China, Avon has doubled the number of direct-selling reps to 700,000. Hmmm…maybe the Communist Party should worry more about the Avon Army than the Falun Gong.



7. Susan Arnold
President, Global Business Units
Procter & Gamble (PNG)
No idea why she is here too.
8. Oprah Winfrey
Chairman
Harpo

Need I say anything more?
9. Brenda BarnesChairman and CEO
Sara Lee (SLE)

Barnes has spent three years on a cost-cutting tear, shedding underperforming units that accounted for 40% of revenue..
10. Ursula Burns
President
Xerox (XRX)

She is on the list because….well…because its Xerox.