Sinead Gorman

Sinead Gorman may have started her career as a civil engineer, but pivoting to finance landed her in the C-suite—and on the MPW list for the first time this year. She joined Shell, Europe’s largest energy company, in 1999 and held several global senior finance positions before landing the CFO role in 2022. Amid high oil and gas prices, Shell more than doubled its profit to $39.9 billion in 2022, easily surpassing its previous annual record of $28.4 billion reached in 2008. In 2022, of the $25 billion Shell put aside for capital improvements, it invested $12.5 billion into its oil business, while allocating $4.3 billion to low-carbon energy projects. At Shell Capital Markets Day in June, Gorman and CEO Wael Sawan refreshed the company’s financial framework for investors. Shell aims to achieve near-zero methane emissions by 2030 and plans to invest $10 billion to $15 billion by 2025 to support the development of low-carbon energy solutions.