The world average of female top executives is 8 percent.

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

has the highest proportion of female CEOs in the world, with 30 percent of companies employing female CEOs, followed by the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, with 19 percent. In the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

the figure is 9 percent and in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

it is 5 percent. 14.2% of the top five leadership positions at the companies in the

S&P 500 The Standard and Poor's 500, or simply the S&P 500, is a stock market index tracking the stock performance of 500 large companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. It is one of the most commonly followed equity indices. As of ...

are held by women, according to a recent CNNMoney analysis, out of those 500 companies, there are 24 female CEOs.

Female CEOs

A number of women have risen to become top executives of major

corporation A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and ...

s. Below is an incomplete list of such women. *

Ida Liu Ida Liu (Chinese: 劉宏敏) is a Chinese American banking executive and currently the Global Head of Citi Private Bank, a position which she has held since April 2021. She previously headed Citi Private Bank in North America. Early life and edu ...

CEO of

Citi Private Bank Citi Private Bank, a subsidiary of multinational banking conglomerate Citigroup, markets Private banking services for ultra high-net-worth individual clients, including entrepreneurs and senior corporate executives. It has 60 offices in 23 count ...

* Brenda C. Barnes, former CEO of

Sara Lee Sara may refer to: Arts, media and entertainment Film and television * Sara (1992 film), ''Sara'' (1992 film), 1992 Iranian film by Dariush Merhjui * Sara (1997 film), ''Sara'' (1997 film), 1997 Polish film starring Bogusław Linda * Sara (2010 ...

Jhane Barnes Jhane Barnes is an American designer of clothing, textiles, eyeglasses, carpets and furniture, and the owner of the ''Jhane Barnes'' fashion design company. Barnes is known for incorporating complex, mathematical patterns into her clothing desig ...

, owner fashion design company *

Mary Barra Mary Teresa Barra (née Makela; born December 24, 1961) is an American businesswoman who has been the chair and chief executive officer (CEO) of General Motors since January 15, 2014. She is the first female CEO of a 'Big Three' automaker. In D ...

, chairman and CEO of General Motors *

Corie Barry Best Buy Co. Inc. is an American multinational consumer electronics retailer headquartered in Richfield, Minnesota. Originally founded by Richard M. Schulze and James Wheeler in 1966 as an audio specialty store called Sound of Music, it was rebra ...

, CEO of Best Buy * Amanda Blanc, CEO of Aviva *

Ana Botín Ana Patricia Botín-Sanz de Sautuola O'Shea, DBE (born 4 October 1960) is a Spanish banker who has served as the executive chairman of Santander Group since 2014. She is the fourth generation of the Botín family to hold this role. Prior to th ...

, President of

Banco Santander Banco Santander, S.A., doing business as Santander Group (, , Spanish: ), is a Spanish multinational financial services company based in Madrid and Santander in Spain. Additionally, Santander maintains a presence in all global financial centr ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

Gail Koziara Boudreaux Gail Koziara Boudreaux (born 1960) is an American businesswoman and athlete. In college, she played for the Dartmouth Big Green Women's basketball team from 1978 through 1982. She later served as an executive for a number of companies such as Aetn ...

, CEO of Anthem * Angela Braly, former President and CEO of WellPoint (now Anthem) *

Heather Bresch Heather Manchin Bresch (' Manchin; born June 27, 1969) is an American business executive. In 2012, she was named as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Netherlands-based pharmaceutical company Mylan, becoming the first woman to run a Fortune 5 ...

Mylan Inc Mylan N.V. was a global generic and specialty pharmaceuticals company. In November 2020, Mylan merged with Upjohn, Pfizer's off-patent medicine division, to form Viatris. Previously, the company was domiciled in the Netherlands, with principal ...

* Roz Brewer, CEO of Walgreens *

Michele Buck Michele Buck is an American businesswoman. In March 2017, she became the first female Chairman, President, and CEO of The Hershey Company, an American food manufacturing company, replacing former CEO John Bilbrey. Early life and education A nat ...

, CEO and President of

The Hershey Company The Hershey Company, commonly known as Hershey's, is an American multinational company and one of the largest chocolate manufacturers in the world. It also manufactures baked products, such as cookies and cakes, and sells beverages like milksh ...

Ursula Burns Ursula M. Burns (born September 20, 1958) is an American businesswoman. Burns is mostly known for being the CEO of Xerox from 2009 to 2016, the first among black women to be a CEO of a Fortune 500 company, and the first woman to succeed another a ...

, CEO and Chairman of

Xerox Xerox Holdings Corporation (; also known simply as Xerox) is an American corporation that sells print and electronic document, digital document products and services in more than 160 countries. Xerox is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut (ha ...

Liz Claiborne Anne Elisabeth Jane Claiborne (March 31, 1929 – June 26, 2007) was an American fashion designer and businesswoman. Her success was built upon stylish yet affordable apparel for career women featuring colorfully tailored separates that co ...

, Chairperson and CEO of Liz Claiborne, Inc. * Zoe Cruz, Co-President of

Morgan Stanley Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment management and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in more than 41 countries and more than 75,000 employees, the fir ...

Alison Cooper Alison Jane Cooper (born 31 March 1966) is a British businesswoman. She is the former chief executive officer (CEO) of Imperial Brands, the world's fourth-largest tobacco company as measured by market share. In February 2020, it was announced th ...

, formerly CEO of Imperial Brands * Debra Crew, CEO of Diageo * Margherita Della Valle, chief executive of

Vodafone Vodafone Group plc () is a British multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It predominantly operates services in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Oceania. , Vod ...

* Mary Dillon, CEO of

Ulta Beauty Ulta Beauty, Inc., formerly known as Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. and before 2000 as Ulta3, is an American chain of beauty stores headquartered in Bolingbrook, Illinois. Ulta Beauty carries both high-end and low-end cosmetics, fragra ...

* Patricia Dunn, former Chairman of Hewlett-Packard *

Annika Falkengren Annika Falkengren ''née'' Bolin (born 1962) is a Swedish banker, one of Lombard Odier’s seven managing partners. She started her professional career in 1987 at Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken where she ascended through the ranks to become its ...

, CEO of SEB, Sweden * Kathryn Farmer, President and CEO of BNSF Railway *

Carly Fiorina Cara Carleton "Carly" Fiorina (''née'' Sneed; born September 6, 1954) is an American businesswoman and politician, known primarily for her tenure as CEO of Hewlett-Packard (HP). As chief executive officer of HP from 1999 to 2005, Fiorina was ...

, former Chairman and CEO of Hewlett-Packard * Janet Foutty, former CEO and chairperson of

Deloitte Consulting Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (), commonly referred to as Deloitte, is an international professional services network headquartered in London, England. Deloitte is the largest professional services network by revenue and number of profession ...

Clara Furse Dame Clara Hedwig Frances Furse Order of the British Empire, DBE () (born 16 September 1957) was the Chief Executive of the London Stock Exchange between January 2001 and May 2009, and was the first woman to occupy the position. In 2005, she was ...

, former CEO of

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St P ...

* Jody Gerson, CEO of

Universal Music Publishing Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) is a North American music publishing company and is part of the Universal Music Group. It was formerly known as MCA Music Publishing until it merged with PolyGram. Universal Music Publishing is the worl ...

Jacqueline Gold Jacqueline Summers Gold (born 16 July 1960) is a British businesswoman who is Chief Executive of Gold Group International, Ann Summers and Knickerbox. Gold is estimated to be the 16th richest woman in Great Britain. Gold is worth £470 milli ...

, former CEO of Ann Summers * Julie Greenwald, CEO of Atlantic Music Group * Linda Hasenfratz, CEO of

Linamar Linamar Corporation (TSX:LNR) is an advanced manufacturing company where the intersection of leading-edge technology and deep manufacturing expertise is creating solutions that power vehicles, motion, work and lives for the future. The Company i ...

*Annie Hurlbut, CEO and co-founder of Peruvian Connection *

Kathy Ireland Kathleen Marie Ireland (born March 20, 1963) is an American author, entrepreneur, fashion designer, philanthropist, and former fashion model. Ireland was a supermodel in the 1980s and 1990s, initially known for appearing in 13 consecutive ''Spo ...

, Chairman, CEO and Chief Designer for Kathy Ireland Worldwide and Chairman Emeritus for Level Brands * Lisa S. Jones CEO of EyeMail Inc. *

Andrea Jung Andrea Jung (鍾彬嫻, pinyin: Zhōng Bīnxián, jyutping: zung1 ban1 haa4) (born 1958) is a Canadian-American executive, non-profit leader, and prominent women's-issues supporter based in New York City. In April 2014, she became president and ...

, Chairman and CEO of Avon Products *Joyce Mackenzie Liu, CEO of Pegafund *

Indra Krishnamurthy Nooyi Indra Nooyi (née Krishnamurthy; born October 28, 1955) is an Indian Americans, Indian-American business executive and former chief executive officer and chairperson of PepsiCo. She has consistently ranked among the Forbes list of The World's ...

, President and CEO of PepsiCo *Marianne Nivert, former CEO of Telia (now

TeliaSonera Telia Company AB is a Swedish multinational telecommunications company and mobile network operator present in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Telia also owns TV4 Media which includes TV4 in Sweden, MTV Oy in F ...

), Sweden * Karen S. Lynch, President and CEO of

CVS Health CVS Health Corporation (previously CVS Corporation and CVS Caremark Corporation) is an American healthcare company that owns CVS Pharmacy, a retail pharmacy chain; CVS Caremark, a pharmacy benefits manager; and Aetna, a health insurance prov ...

* Sylvia Rhone, CEO of Epic Records *

Ginni Rometty Virginia Marie "Ginni" Rometty (born July 29, 1957) is an American business executive who served as executive chairman of IBM after stepping down as CEO on April 1, 2020. She previously served as chairman, president and CEO of IBM, becoming the ...

, former CEO of IBM *

Irene Rosenfeld Irene Blecker Rosenfeld (born May 3, 1953) is an American businesswoman who was the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Mondelēz International. Rosenfeld's career began at Dancer Fitzgerald Sample, a New York City advertising agency. ...

, CEO of

Kraft Foods The second incarnation of Kraft Foods is an American food manufacturing and processing conglomerate, split from Kraft Foods Inc. in 2012 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It became part of Kraft Heinz in 2015. A merger with Heinz, arran ...

* Rasha Al Roumi, former CEO of

Kuwait Airways Kuwait Airways ( ar, الخطوط الجوية الكويتية, ) is the national carrier of Kuwait, with its head office on the grounds of Kuwait International Airport, Al Farwaniyah Governorate. It operates scheduled international services thr ...

Patricia Russo Patricia F. Russo (born June 12, 1952, in Trenton, New Jersey) is an American businessperson. Russo is most widely known for having served as chief executive officer of Lucent Technologies, and its successor, Alcatel-Lucent, a large communication ...

, CEO of

Lucent Lucent Technologies, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications equipment company headquartered in Murray Hill, New Jersey. It was established on September 30, 1996, through the divestiture of the former AT&T Technologies business u ...

* Güler Sabancı , CEO of

Sabancı Holding Hacı Ömer Sabancı Holding A.Ş., commonly abbreviated as Sabancı Holding, is an industrial and financial conglomerate with headquarters in Istanbul, Turkey. The company's primary activities are in financial services, energy (electricity generat ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

* Mary Sammons, President and CEO of

Rite Aid Rite Aid Corporation is an American drugstore chain based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1962 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, by Alex Grass under the name Thrift D Discount Center. The company ranked No. 148 in the Fortune 500 l ...

*Nicola Steele, CEO of

Krispy Kreme Krispy Kreme, Inc. (previously Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc.) is an American multinational doughnut company and coffeehouse chain. Krispy Kreme was founded by Vernon Rudolph (1915–1973), who bought a yeast-raised recipe from a New Orleans c ...

ANZ *

Martha Stewart Martha Helen Stewart (, ; born August 3, 1941) is an American retail businesswoman, writer, and television personality. As founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, she gained success through a variety of business ventures, encompassing pu ...

, former CEO of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia *

Belinda Stronach Belinda Caroline Stronach (Born May 2, 1966) is a Canadian businesswoman, philanthropist and a former Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons of Canada from 2004 to 2008. Originally elected as a Conservative, she later crossed the fl ...

, former President and CEO of

Magna International Magna International Inc. is a Canadian parts manufacturer for automakers. It is one of the largest companies in Canada and was recognized on the 2020 ''Forbes'' Global 2000. The company is the largest automobile parts manufacturer in North Americ ...

Lisa Su Lisa Su (; born 7 November 1969) is a Taiwanese-American business executive and electrical engineer, who is the president, chief executive officer and chair of AMD. Early in her career, Su worked at Texas Instruments, IBM, and Freescale Semi ...

, President, CEO and Chair of

AMD Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) is an American multinational semiconductor company based in Santa Clara, California, that develops computer processors and related technologies for business and consumer markets. While it initially manufactur ...

* Cydni Tetro, CEO of Brandless * Therese Tucker, founder and CEO of BlackLine *

Laura Wade-Gery Laura Wade-Gery (born 1965) is a British business executive. Early life Wade-Gery (daughter of the late Robert Wade-Gery, Sir Robert Wade-Gery) was educated at Cheltenham Ladies' College and Magdalen College, Oxford, where she studied history a ...

, CEO of Multi-channel at Marks & Spencer, former CEO of

Tesco.com Tesco.com is an electronic commerce website operated by Tesco. It offers a wide range of other products, including electronic goods, books, broadband and financial services. Tesco closed their Tesco Direct website in 2018. History Tesco has ope ...

Meg Whitman Margaret Cushing Whitman (born August 4, 1956) is the US ambassador to Kenya, an American business executive and former gubernatorial candidate for California. She is a board member of Procter & Gamble and General Motors. Whitman was previously ...

, former CEO of

eBay eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became ...

, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard and

Hewlett Packard Enterprise The Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (HPE) is an American multinational information technology company based in Spring, Texas, United States. HPE was founded on November 1, 2015, in Palo Alto, California, as part of the splitting of the ...

Geisha Williams Geisha J. Williams (born Jimenez, c. 1961/1962) is a Cuban American businesswoman. She was the president and CEO of the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) from March 2017 to January 13, 2019. Early life Williams was born Geisha J. Jimenez in ...

, CEO and President of President of PG&E Corporation * Shelley Zalis, CEO of The Female Quotient, former CEO of

Ipsos Ipsos Group S.A. () (an acronym of ) is a multinational market research and consulting firm with headquarters in Paris, France. The company was founded in 1975 by Didier Truchot, Chairman of the company, and has been publicly traded on the P ...

Open Thinking Exchange *Karla Lewis, CEO of Reliance Steel & Aluminum *Sin Yin Tan -

Ping An Insurance Ping An Insurance known also as Ping An of China (), full name Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. is a Chinese holding conglomerate whose subsidiaries provide insurance, banking, asset management, financial, healthcare services. ...

*Stephanie Linnartz, CEO

Under Armour Under Armour, Inc. is an American sports equipment company that manufactures footwear, sports and casual apparel. Under Armour's global headquarters are located in Baltimore, Maryland, with additional offices located in Amsterdam (European head ...

References

{{Reflist Executives, female Executives