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This article was first published 11 years ago

World's biggest companies run by women

Last updated on: April 4, 2013 10:33 IST

Image: A staff member is reflected in a mirror as she walks at Fast Retailing's flagship Uniqlo store in Tokyo, Japan.
Photographs: Yuriko Nakao/Reuters

Women account for less than 5 per cent of the CEOs in S&P 500 companies, but the number is edging up, according to CNBC.

Let's take a look at some of the biggest companies run by women.

Source: CNBC

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World's biggest companies run by women

Image: IBM CEO and Chairperson of the Board Virginia Rometty in New York.
Photographs: Carlo Allegri/Reuters

Virginia Rometty

Position: Chairperson and CEO

Company: IBM

Prior to becoming president and CEO in January 2012 she held the position of Senior Vice-President and Group Executive for Sales, Marketing, and Strategy at IBM.

She has been named to Fortune magazine's '50 Most Powerful Women in Business' for eight consecutive years, ranking number one for 2012, and she was ranked number 15 on Forbes magazine's 'World's 100 Most Powerful Women' for the same year.

She was also named to the Time 100 in 2012, and was included in the 50 Most Influential list of Bloomberg Markets Magazine in September 2012.

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World's biggest companies run by women

Image: PepsiCo Chairperson and CEO Indra Nooyi in New York.
Photographs: Mike Segar/Reuters

Indra Nooyi

Position: Chairperson and CEO

Company: PepsiCo

Nooyi was born in Chennai, where she was educated at Holy Angels Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School. She received a Bachelor's degree from Madras Christian College in 1974 and a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from Indian Institute of Management Calcutta in 1976.

Beginning her career in India, Nooyi held product manager positions at Johnson & Johnson and textile firm Mettur Beardsell.

She was admitted to Yale School of Management in 1978 and earned a Master's degree in Public and Private Management. While at Yale, she completed her summer internship with Booz Allen Hamilton. Graduating in 1980, Nooyi joined the Boston Consulting Group, and then held strategy positions at Motorola and Asea Brown Boveri.

Nooyi joined PepsiCo in 1994 and was named president and CFO in 2001.

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World's biggest companies run by women

Image: Irene Rosenfeld in Paris, France.
Photographs: Jacky Naegelen/Reuters

Irene Rosenfeld

Position: Chairperson and CEO

Company: Mondelez International

Rosenfeld has been involved in the food and beverage industry for about 30 years. Her first job was at Dancer Fitzgerald Sample advertising agency in New York and she later joined General Foods in consumer research.

In 2004, Rosenfeld was appointed Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Frito-Lay, a division of PepsiCo, where she focused on promoting healthy products. She was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Kraft Foods in June 2006.

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World's biggest companies run by women

Image: Ellen Kullman, Chair and CEO of DuPont, in Laguna Niguel, California.
Photographs: Alex Gallardo/Reuters

Ellen Kullman

Position: President, Chair and CEO

Company: DuPont

Kullman began her business career at General Electric and joined DuPont in 1988 as marketing manager in the company's medical imaging business. In her previous role as executive vice-president she was responsible for four of DuPont's business platforms as well as leading the company's growth in markets outside the US.

DuPont's board of directors elected Kullman President and a director of the company with effect from October 1, 2008, and Chief Executive Officer with effect from January 1, 2009.

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World's biggest companies run by women

Image: Hewlett Packard CEO and President Meg Whitman in Sun Valley, Idaho, United States.
Photographs: Jim Urquhart/Reuters

Meg Whitman

Position: President and CEO

Company: Hewlett-Packard

A native of Long Island, New York, she is a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Business School. Whitman served as an executive in The Walt Disney Company where she was vice-president of strategic planning throughout the 1980s.

In the 1990s, she served as an executive for DreamWorks, Procter & Gamble, and Hasbro. Whitman served as president and chief executive officer of eBay from 1998 to 2008.

In January 2011, Whitman joined Hewlett-Packard's board of directors. She was named CEO on September 22, 2011.

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World's biggest companies run by women

Image: Carol Meyrowitz, inset.
Photographs: Courtesy, tjx.com

Carol Meyrowitz

Position: President, Director and CEO

Company: TJX Companies

Meyrowitz joined TJX Companies in 1983. In 2001, she became Executive Vice-President of the company, as well as the President of Marmaxx, the largest division of the company.

She rose to Senior Executive Vice-President in March 2004, which she maintained until January 2005. In January 2005, she left her positions and became an advisor for TJX and Berkshire Partners.

However, Meyrowitz became president on October 17, 2005; additionally, she became a member of the board of directors on September 7, 2006.

She was appointed Chief Executive Officer on January 28, 2007.

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World's biggest companies run by women

Image: Marissa Mayer, President and CEO, Yahoo!, in Washington, DC.
Photographs: Joshua Roberts/Reuters

Marissa Mayer

Position: President and CEO

Company: Yahoo!

Previously, she was a long-time executive and key spokesperson for Google. She is the youngest CEO of a Fortune 500 company, and has been ranked number 14 on the list of America's most powerful businesswomen of 2012 by Fortune magazine.

Mayer joined Google in 1999 as employee number 20 and was the company's first female engineer. During her 13 years with the company, she was an engineer, designer, product manager and executive.

Mayer held key roles in Google Search, Google Images, Google News, Google Maps, Google Books, Google Product Search, Google Toolbar, iGoogle and Gmail.

On July 16, 2012, Mayer was appointed President and CEO of Yahoo!

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World's biggest companies run by women

Image: Patricia Woertz, Chairperson, President and CEO of Archer Daniels Midland, in Laguna Niguel, California.
Photographs: Alex Gallardo/Reuters

Patricia Woertz

Position: Chairperson, President and CEO

Company: Archer Daniels Midland

Born in Pennsylvania in 1953, she studied accounting at Penn State University, graduating in 1974. She first worked for Ernst & Young in Pittsburgh, then moved to Gulf Oil, an Ernst & Young client.

She was briefly in Vancouver, British Columbia, to become President of Chevron International and ultimately Executive Vice-President of Chevron's global downstream operations.

She has served as the President and CEO of Archer Daniels Midland since 2007.

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World's biggest companies run by women

Image: Debra Reed, inset.
Photographs: Courtesy, sempra.com

Debra Reed

Position: Chairperson, President and CEO

Company: Sempra Energy

Debra Reed is chairman of the board of directors and chief executive officer of Sempra Energy, a San Diego-based Fortune 500 energy services holding company whose subsidiaries provide electricity, natural gas and value-added products and services.

The Sempra Energy companies' nearly 17,000 employees serve more than 31 million consumers worldwide.

Previously, Reed served as executive vice-president of Sempra Energy. From 2006 to 2010, she was president and chief executive officer of San Diego Gas & Electric and Southern California Gas Co, Sempra Energy's regulated California utilities.

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World's biggest companies run by women

Image: Ursula Burns, Chairperson and CEO, Xerox, in New York.
Photographs: Brendan McDermid/Reuters

Ursula Burns

Position: Chairperson and CEO

Company: Xerox

She is the first African-American woman CEO to head a Fortune 500 company. She is also the first woman to succeed another woman as head of a Fortune 500 company.

In 2009, Forbes rated her the 14th most powerful woman in the world.

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