The most successful women CEOs have demonstrated their capacity to pave new ground by radically altering company culture, emphasizing sustainability, leading turnarounds, and increasing earnings.
The reports say that while women are still underrepresented in leadership positions, there has been substantial development over the past 20 years.
The number of female business owners increased by a factor of ten between 2002 and 2022, according to the data, paving the way for a new crop of powerful women’s CEOs.
Though their ranks are tiny, women CEOs have a significant impact. Take a look at some of the most successful women CEOs today who are demonstrating that gender plays no role in professional achievement.
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Who are the top women CEOs Of 2022?
The software, banking, aerospace, and defense, chipmaker, pharmaceutical, and shipping sectors are just some of the many that have seen an increase in the percentage of female CEOs in recent years. Here is a look at the top female CEOs of the largest corporations based on market cap.
1. Rosalind Brewer
CEO, Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA)
Brewer, who most recently served as Starbucks’ COO in 2021, was appointed CEO of Walgreens. She is a professional leader in corporate America and only the third Black woman. One of the 41 women to lead a Fortune 500 business is Brewer. She was the president and Chief Executive Officer of Sam’s Club before she joined Starbucks in 2017. She was Sam’s Club’s first Black CEO.
Brewer also helped lead Starbucks’ diversity programs, including racial bias training, as the company’s first female and Black COO. The business now links CEO compensation to diversity goals. She is included among the 100 most powerful women in the world in 2021 by Forbes and Fortune, respectively.
2. Karen Lynch
CEO, CVS Health (CVS)
Karen Lynch, one of the most well-known and respected female CEOs today. Since February 2021, Lynch has served as president and chief executive officer of CVS Health (CVS), a major player in the American pharmaceutical industry.
Lynch is a certified public accountant by trade and served as president of CVS Health’s healthcare insurance subsidiary Aetna before joining CVS. After being named the most powerful woman in business by Fortune for two years in a row, Lynch was included in Forbes’ 2021 Power Women list.
Lynch not only serves as CEO of CVS Health, but also sits on the board of the Bushnell Performing Arts Centre and is a member of the Business Roundtable.
3. Gail Koziara Boudreaux
President and CEO, Anthem
Anthem’s president and chief executive officer is Gail Koziara Boudreaux. Boudreaux, a veteran healthcare industry executive, assumed the post of Anthem’s CEO in 2017. Since 2008, she has worked in executive leadership positions at UnitedHealthcare, GKB Global Health (NYSE:GSK) and UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH).
Under Boudreaux’s leadership, Anthem acquired three companies that provide Medicare Advantage services: America’s 1st Choice, HealthSun, and Aspire Health. During Boudreaux’s time at Anthem, the stock price has more than doubled.
Boudreaux is a member of the Target (NYSE:TGT) board of directors as well. According to Fortune, Boudreaux is the sixth most influential businesswoman in 2021.
4. Carol B. Tomé
United Parcel Service (UPS)
The fourth on our list of top women CEO businesswomen is Carol B. Tomé, CEO of United Parcel Service, an American international shipping company (UPS).
Tomé became UPS’s first female Chief Executive Officer in 2020; the company has been around for over a century. She served as executive vice president and chief financial officer of Home Depot, an American home improvement store, for more than 20 years before joining UPS.
In 1995, Tome became UPS’s vice president and treasurer, and in 2003, she was elected to the board. While Tomé does retire in 2019, she has decided to return to the workforce in the hopes of “making money” for UPS.
5. Mary Barra
CEO, General Motors (GM)
Barra is the third-highest-ranking executive at GM and one of only a handful of female CEOs at major American automakers. In January of 2014, she replaced Daniel Akerson as CEO of GM, who is widely regarded as the man responsible for the company’s turnaround after it applied for Chapter eleven bankruptcy in 2011.
Through her leadership, Barra has made it a priority for General Motors to switch to all-electric vehicles by 2035. She was named the fourth most powerful woman in the world by Forbes and the fifth most powerful woman in the world by Fortune in 2021.
6. Safra Catz
CEO, Oracle
Safra Catz, Oracle’s current CEO, previously served as the company’s chief financial officer. She has been the company’s chief executive officer since 2014, when she and Mark Hurd covered the CEO position. It’s important to note that Oracle paid Hurd and Catz the same amount. After Hurd passed away this year, Catz was left as Oracle’s sole CEO.
Oracle’s expansion under Catz’s leadership was fueled by a policy of strategic acquisitions. During Catz’s tenure as Oracle’s president in 2005, she assisted in closing more than 130 transactions, including the $10.3 billion acquisition of PeopleSoft.
In recent years, Catz has guided Oracle’s transition from slow-growing traditional hardware industries to rapidly expanding cloud computing and infrastructure products.
Both in 2015 and 2016, Catz received over $40 million in annual salary, making her the highest-paid female CEO in the world. Catz was recognized as the fifteenth most powerful woman in business by Fortune in 2021.
Read also: Meet 6 of the most powerful women in the world in 2022
