Kathryn Mikells

Kathryn Mikells, who joined the U.S.’s largest publicly traded oil and gas company in 2021, makes her debut on the MPW list this year. She is the first woman and external hire to join the oil major’s management committee. When Exxon hired Mikells, previously CFO at Diageo, it marked the first time the oil giant had ever formalized the CFO role, seemingly a response to the successful proxy fight waged by investment firm Engine No. 1, which spoke to deeper discontent among investors. The investor relations team also reports to Mikells. Exxon Mobil saw a 45% increase in revenue in 2022, posting record annual profits of $56 billion. A favorable oil market deserves credit for those results, but so do the investments Exxon made during the pandemic that set it up to meet consumer needs in a recovery period when global oil supply was tight. The company remains on track to deliver $9 billion in structural cost savings by the end of 2023 relative to 2019, and it’s committed $17 billion to low-carbon initiatives from 2022 to 2027.