Some of the women who have made it to the top – You Go Girls!
1. Indra Nooyi
Pepsi’s brand-new chief (as of Oct. 1) is a powerful force behind the consumer giant’s strong profit pipeline and $108 billion stock market valuation. Formerly CFO and president, the Indian-born strategist reached the top even though she never ran a line operation at Pepsi. Nooyi believes in constant reinvention: “The minute you’ve developed a new business model, it’s extinct, because somebody is going to copy it.”
2. Anne Mulcahy
An emphasis on color copiers, digital presses, and systems that can copy, fax, print, and scan has helped the turnaround magician (aided by No. 27 Ursula Burns) continue to drive steady growth at the $15.7 billion company. Thanks to the iGen printer, which cost more than $1 billion to develop, Xerox is also a market leader in color commercial printing. In 2005 the company launched 49 new products.
3. Meg Whitman
Whitman’s task is to figure out how to put the shine back in one of the brightest stars of the Internet age (see story, page 158). Last year’s acquisitions have failed to bring in big revenue, and U.S. traffic growth has slowed. That has translated into a slumping stock, down about 40% in the past year; market cap is now $37 billion. The Internet phone provider Skype won’t bring in profits anytime soon—the service remains free until the end of the year. In July the company announced a $2 billion stock buyback, eBay’s first.
4. Pat Woertz
Talk about a brief retirement. In March the 29-year Chevron veteran stepped down from running the $194 billion company’s downstream division. By May she had stepped into the corner office at the $37 billion agribusiness giant. Woertz’s energy expertise is expected to guide ADM’s push in renewable fuels (see story, page 166). Her timing was impeccable: Riding a commodities boom, ADM stock has had a good run.
5. Irene Rosenfeld
Taking the top job at Kraft was a homecoming for Rosenfeld, who spent 22 years at the company, then took a detour to PepsiCo to head the Frito-Lay unit. Now back at Kraft, the world’s second-largest food company (2005 revenues: $34 billion), she is facing major challenges. Several years into its restructuring plan, Kraft’s sales are sluggish. Rosenfeld’s next move: preparing for the widely expected spinoff from parent company Altria.
6. Brenda Barnes
Barnes inherited a mish-mash of companies when she became CEO last year. So she began selling noncore businesses like Hanes apparel to focus on food. The divested units made up 40% of Sara Lee’s revenues, which were $19.3 billion when Barnes took over and are expected to shrink to about $11.6 billion this year. The stock is still lagging, as Barnes has been forced to lower the company’s long-term targets.
7. Andrea Jung
Jung’s turnaround plan for the $8 billion beauty company is on track to reach $200 million in annual savings. Key markets like the U.S., Canada, and Mexico are struggling. Russia is doing well, though, and so is China, where Avon has shifted from department stores to direct sales.
8. Oprah Winfrey
Chairman, Harpo Inc.
2005 rank: 4
Age: 52
2005 rank: 4
Age: 52
Move over, Howard Stern. Oprah took to the radio waves in September with the launch of Oprah & Friends, an XM Satellite Radio network. In January her $40 million Leadership Academy for Girls will open in South Africa.
9. Sallie Krawcheck
Krawcheck and CEO Chuck Prince have spearheaded major changes at the financial services giant (market cap: $247 billion), including the sale of the asset-management and life insurance and annuity businesses. But with rising interest rates and a weaker housing market, Citigroup has been missing its earnings targets.
10. Susan Arnold
In April the P&G lifer added the personal health, oral care, and pharmaceutical businesses to her beauty portfolio. At $29 billion in sales, her divisions bring in 42% of P&G’s revenues. Down the line, she’s a contender for an even bigger job: CEO.
See them all here: http://money.cnn.com/popups/2006/fortune/mostpowerfulwomen/1.html
determined
