About the 2023 list of the Most Powerful Women in business
This year’s list of the Most Powerful Women in business is the most comprehensive on record: 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 three are the first women to hold their respective jobs.
Other executives listed here who are not yet CEO of their parent companies may be in the running to claim that seat soon. Dior chairman and CEO Delphine Arnault and Reliance Retail Ventures leader Isha Ambani, both heiresses to enormous family fortunes, are possible contenders to take over their respective family’s sprawling empires: France’s LVMH and India’s Reliance Industries.
Still other execs are leading some of the world’s most valuable startups. Canva CEO Melanie Perkins and Skims cofounder Kim Kardashian are atop unicorns that are worth $26 billion and $4 billion, respectively, and eyeing the public markets. Fidji Simo leads a company that just made that leap: Instacart’s September IPO raised $660 million.
Who’s not on the list is also notable. One absence is ex–Walgreens CEO Rosalind Brewer, who stepped down in August. Brewer was one of two Black female CEOs running Fortune 500 companies. TIAA CEO Thasunda Brown Duckett was the only executive with that distinction until Toni Townes-Whitley became CEO of technology company SAIC in October.
This year’s list has both newcomers (there are 53) and stalwarts like Duke Energy CEO Lynn Good, here for the 10th straight year. But all honorees are facing a business world in flux, one that’s struck with the urgency of ongoing revolutions—whether fueled by AI, green technology, or newly emboldened workers—and tempered by a lackluster economy and geopolitical instability.
The tumult is opening the door for female execs. In this year’s first half, 106 CEOs left their jobs. The total was two fewer than in the same period in 2022, a record year for turnover, according to Russell Reynolds’s analysis of 1,822 firms globally. Of the CEO replacements, 13% were women, up from 2.4% in 2018. The business world is demanding change, and women leaders are meeting the moment.