Fortune Reveals the 100 Most Powerful Women in Business

CVS Health CEO Karen S. Lynch tops the 26th annual list for 3rd consecutive year, followed by  Accenture CEO Julie Sweet, GM CEO Mary Barra

Global ranking of 100 leaders includes 53 newcomers to the list this year including OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, Skims and SKKY co-founder Kim Kardashian, and Coty CEO Sue Nabi, an openly transgender woman

Finance and tech industries lead the way with 20 women from each field, 18 from retail, 7 each from health care and energy

67 women CEOs on MPW list 2023; non-U.S. women on list include 9 from U.K., 7 from Greater China, 6 from France, 4 from Australia, and 2 each from Spain, Brazil, India, and Germany

Cover of Fortune's 100 Most Powerful Women issue belongs to OpenAI's Murati

NEW YORK, Oct. 5, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Fortune announced the 2023 edition of the Most Powerful Women in Business list, featuring established and rising leaders from around the globe. Now in its 26th year, the Most Powerful Women celebrates 100 leading business women representing industries including finance, tech, healthcare, telecom, retail, and energy, among others.

This year's list of the Most Powerful Women in business is the most comprehensive on record: It's the first time Fortune has had a single worldwide list honoring 100 women. The list's new global scope and bigger scale recognize the nature of top executives' work—it spans the planet—as well as the near-record number of women who are leading companies on the Fortune 500, the largest in the U.S. by revenue, and the Fortune Global 500, the largest companies in the world.

In total, the list features 67 women with a CEO title, some of whom only recently stepped into the corner office. Margherita Della Valle became CEO of British telecom Vodafone in April. Sandy Ran Xu took over Chinese e-commerce titan JD.com in May. Vanessa Hudson assumed the CEO job at Australia's flagship carrier Qantas in September. All are the first women to hold their respective jobs. Other women are making a major impact early in their careers, like 34-year-old Mira Murati, the Chief Technology Officer at OpenAI and Susan Li, Meta's CFO.  Some other execs are leading the world's most valuable startups including Kim Kardashian, the co-founder of the $4 billion shapewear line Skims.

When CEOs step down, women are getting called to replace them in greater numbers. Fortune notes that in this year's first half, 106 CEOs worldwide left their jobs. Of the CEO replacements, 13% were women, up from 2.4% in 2018. Fortune writes: "The business world is demanding change, and women leaders are meeting the moment."

The Top 10 of the 2023 Fortune 100 Most Powerful Women in Business:

1. Karen S. Lynch, President and CEO, CVS Health (U.S.)
2. Julie Sweet, Chair and CEO, Accenture (U.S.)
3. Mary Barra, Chair and CEO, General Motors (U.S.)
4. Jane Fraser, CEO, Citigroup (U.S.)
5. Jessica Tan, Executive Director, Co-CEO, Ping An (China)
6. Carol Tomé, CEO, UPS (U.S.)
7. Emma Walmsley, CEO, GSK (U.K.)
8. Ruth Porat, President, CIO, CFO, Alphabet and Google (U.S.)
9. Shemara Wikramanayake, Managing Director and CEO, Macquarie (Australia)
10. Gail Boudreaux, President and CEO, Elevance Health (U.S.)

For the third consecutive year, Karen S. Lynch, President and CEO of CVS Health, lands the #1 spot as the highest-ranking Fortune Global 500 (#11) company in the world led by a female chief executive.  In the past year, CVS Health acquired primary care provider Oak Street Health and home health care specialist Signify Health for a total of $19 billion. The deals are part of a strategy— accelerated with CVS Health's 2018 acquisition of insurer Aetna—to transform the company formerly known as a drugstore chain and pharmacy benefit manager into a driving force in the healthcare sector.

Many of the women on the 2023 list will be speaking or attending Fortune's Most Powerful Women Summit in Laguna Niguel, CA October 9 - 11. 

About Fortune

FORTUNE upholds a legacy of award-winning writing and trusted reporting for executives who want to make business better. Independently owned, with a global perspective and digital agility, FORTUNE tells the stories of a new generation of innovators, builders, and risk takers. Online and in print, FORTUNE measures corporate performance through rigorous benchmarks, and holds companies accountable. FORTUNE creates communities by convening true thought leaders and iconoclasts – those who shape industry, commerce and society – through powerful and prestigious lists, events and conferences, such as the iconic Fortune 500, the CEO Initiative and Most Powerful Women. For more information, visit fortune.com.

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