Fortune 50 Most Powerful Women
in Business 2005
1 Anne Lauvergeon
Chairman Areva
Areva, the world's largest nuclear power company, turned in a record
performance last year, with net profit rising 62%, to $467 million, on sales
of $9.9 billion. Now Lauvergeon, a 45-year-old former civil servant, is
lobbying the French government, which owns 94% of Areva, to proceed with a
long-promised IPO. She is also trying to convince skeptics that nuclear
power is both safe and "green." She probably won't win that argument, but
the nuclear industry couldn't ask for a better marketer than this
persuasive, self-assured technocrat.
2 XieQihua
Chairman and President Shanghai Baosteel Group
China
In 2003—Xie's first year as head of China's largest steelmaker—profits
nearly doubled and revenue increased 56%, to $14.5 billion, vaulting the
state-owned company onto the FORTUNE Global 500 for the first time. This
year Xie plans to raise $3.4 billion in a public offering of Baosteel, the
Shanghai group's listed subsidiary, to help boost capacity to 50 million
tons by 2010. That would make it the third-largest steel producer in the
world. But Xie, 61, an engineer who worked her way up through the ranks, may
have to adhere to China's compulsory retirement age and leave the company
before seeing that goal accomplished.
3 Marjorie Scardino
CEO Pearson
Scardino, 57, has proved an adept crisis manager, gradually digging Pearson
out of a hole following a worldwide advertising recession. In the first half
of this year, the publishing group reported a 3% rise in pretax profit, to
$71 million, despite revenue falling 4%, to $2.9 billion. Although the
Financial Times is still leaking red ink, Pearson's second half promises to
be even stronger.
4 Nancy McKinstry
CEO Writers Kluwer
The $4.3 billion Dutch publisher of professional materials for doctors,
lawyers, and accountants was in trouble when McKinstry, 45, took over in
September 2003. But she was tapped for the job because she had a tough
turnaround plan. It includes cutting 1,600 jobs by 2007 and transforming the
company from a prosaic print publisher into a cutting-e
electronic-information provider.
5.HoChing
Executive Director Temasek Holdings
Singapore
With Temasek's $50 billion in assets at her command, Ho's influence extends
well beyond the tiny country led by her husband, Lee Hsien Loong, who
recently became Prime Minister. Temasek controls regional jewels such as
Singapore Airlines, SingTel (run by her brother-in-law), and armsmaker
Singapore Technologies. This year, Stanford-educated Ho, 51, has taken
Temasek into Indonesian banking and Malaysian tele-corns while weathering
criticism that Temasek's clout inhibits Singaporean entrepreneurism.
6.Linda Cook
CEO Shell Gas & Power
Netherlands
After running Shell's Canadian operations, Cook, 46, returned to
headquarters this year to take charge of the company's $8.2 billion gas and
power division. The move included a major promotion: Cook is now a member of
Shell's all-powerful committee of managing directors. She says she couldn't
have done it without the help of her husband, who quit his job as an energy
trader in 1998 to take care of their children.
7 Ana Patricia Botin
Chairman Banco Banesto
Spain
Botin, 44, outshines her two brothers as the only member of her generation
to hold a position of high executive responsibility at this family-run bank.
A member of the board of Banesto's parent, Grupo San-tander, Spain's largest
bank, Botin runs a retail unit that last year accounted for net operating
revenue of $1.8 billion, or 11.5% of Santander's total. Should Santander
succeed in its $15 billion bid to acquire Britain's Abbey, that clout will
only increase.
8 Yang Mianmian
President Haier Group
China
Yang, 63, has been working in the shadow of Haier's chairman, Zhang Ruimin,
for the past 20 years. But it's unlikely that without her drive and energy
Haier could have grown from a small refrigerator factory in Qingdao to a
$9.7 billion home-appliance giant. Zhang made Yang his deputy after he found
the former schoolteacher reading textbooks during her breaks on the factory
floor. Haier has 26.2% of China's refrigerator market and 16.6% of its home
air-conditioner market. It also accounts for 50% of all small refrigerators
sold in the U.S.
9 Marina Berlusconi
Vice Chairman Fininvest
Italy
As head of her family-owned holding company, Berlusconi oversees businesses
ranging from commercial television and publishing to soccer. The Italian
Prime Minister's 38-year-old daughter has recently taken the $6.1 billion
group into radio. Last year Fin-invest's revenue jumped 19% and profits
doubled to $302 million.
10 Kate Swann
CEO W.H. Smith
Britain
Recruited from a British catalog retailer last year to halt the slide at W.H.
Smith, Britain's largest stationer and bookseller, the 39-year-old Swann has
unveiled a turnaround plan that involves selling the publishing division and
focusing on the book-retailing business. Investors are reserving judgment:
In the six months ended in February, the company's pretax profit fell 28%,
to $122.6 million, on sales of $2.7 billion.
11 Maria A. Aramburuzabala Larregui
Vice Chairman Grupo Modelo
Mexico
Mexico's most powerful woman is one of the top executives at the country's
leading beermaker, which last year saw revenue rise 5%, to $3.6 billion, and
profits jump 10%, to$429 million. After her fathers death in the mid-1990s,
Aramburuzabala, 41, left her stay-at-home-mom job to join the family
business. She later helped sell a noncontrolling 50.2% stake in Grupo Modelo
to Anheuser-Busch and used the proceeds from that deal to invest in Grupo
Televisa, the largest media company in the Spanish-speaking world. She is
now one of that company's biggest shareholders.
12 Sari Baldauf
President Nokia Networks
Finland
As Nokia fights to regain market share and boost profits, the heat is on
Baldauf, 49, who runs Nokia's $6 billion telecom-infrastructure division, as
well as the company's overall efforts in China. If Nokia is going to beat
back aggressive rivals such as Samsung and Sony Ericsson, China will be a
key battleground. A 21-year veteran of the Finnish telecom giant, Baldauf is
fluent in four languages besides her native Finnish.
13 Rose Marie Bravo
CEO Burberry
Britain
Bravo continues to prove there's more to Burberry than raincoats for
middle-aged English country folk. Since taking charge in 1997, this
53-year-old American has transformed Burberry into a chic international
fashion label worn by the likes of Kate Moss. In the year ended March 30,
Burberry reported a 22% increase in pretax earnings, to $258 million, on
sales of $1.2 billion.
14 Mary Ma
CFO Lenovo Group Holdings
China
Following the example set by South Korea's Samsung, Ma, who oversees
Lenovo's international alliances, is helping to take her company's brand
beyond its home borders by becoming a sponsor of the Olympics (next venue:
Beijing 2008). If she succeeds, the $3 billion company, which controls 29%
of China's PC market, may one day stand with IBM and Dell at the top of the
world IT industry.
15 Vivienne Cox
Executive Vice President BP
Britain
While CEO John Browne dominates the headlines, Cox, 45, runs BP's $66
billion gas, power, and renew-ables trading business as well as its
oil-trading operations. A graduate of Oxford, she is increasingly drawing
attention as one of the next generation of leaders at the British energy
giant. She was named to BP's inner circle this summer.
16 Patricia Barbizet
CEO Artemis
France
It has been a tough year for Barbizet, 49, who runs the private holding
company of French tycoon Frangois Pinault. Last December, Artemis agreed to
pay $110 million to former policyholders of Executive Life, a failed
California insurer in which Pinault had invested. Meanwhile, Barbizet has
had her work cut out as chairman of Pinault Printemps-Redoute, the retail
conglomerate controlled by Pinault. Shareholders are worried about the
future of Gucci, the Italian luxury goods house now owned outright by PPR,
following the departure of Tom Ford and Domenico de Sole.
17 Clara Furse
CEO London Stock Exchange
Britain
The head of Europe's biggest stock market, Furse was forced by British
regulators in April to cut the exchange's listing fees by up to 25%. And
some shareholders are concerned about the LSE's failure to take the lead in
the consolidation of Europe's stock exchanges. To keep her job, the
45-year-old Furse needs to show she can counter the growing threat from
Euronext, the British exchange's main Continental rival.
18 Val Gooding
CEO Bupa
Britain
Since taking charge in 1999, Gooding has built Britain's biggest private
medical insurer into an increasingly global health-care business. Last year
Bupa registered record pretax profits of $246 million on sales of $6.2
billion, with almost a third of revenue coming from abroad. Gooding, 53, was
rewarded for her stellar performance with a 2003 compensation package worth
$3.6 million.
19 Lien Siaou-Sze
Senior Vice President HP Technology Solutions
Singapore
Lien, a 26-year HP veteran with degrees in physics and computer science,
oversees more than 15,000 people across 14 fast-growing markets. In a recent
interview with Singapore's Straits Times, Lien lamented all the things she
didn't have time for: "I love sports, dancing, and going up in a hot-air
balloon. But do I get to do these things every day? Hell, no!" Instead, she
was busy last year generating about $10 billion of HP's $78.4 billion in
global revenue.
20 Guler Sabanci
Chairman and Managing Director Sabanci Holding
Turkey
After the death of her uncle earlier this year, Sabanci took over as head of
Turkey's second-largest conglomerate (the Koc, group is No. 1), with a
portfolio of 70 companies ranging from banking to textiles to tobacco, and
revenue last year of $7.3 billion. Before getting the top job, the
49-year-old Sabanci headed the group's tire and reinforcement materials
division.
21 Marie Ehrling
CEO TeliaSonera Sweden
Sweden
Ehrling heads the Swedish arm of this Finnish-Swedish telecom giant, which
last year accounted for $5.9 billion in revenue—about half of TeliaSonera's
total. Since becoming CEO in 2003, Ehrling, 49, who had spent most of her
career at SAS Airlines, has worked to transform ihe company from one driven
by technology to one driven by customer service. TeliaSonera Sweden launched
3G service this year, and this summer offered customers live television
broadcasts of the Olympics on their mobile handsets.
22 Imre Barmanbek
Deputy Chairman Dogan Holding
Turkey
Barmanbek, 62, is the No. 2 executive at this $4.5 billion Turkish
conglomerate, where she started her career more than 25 years ago. Dogan
Holding has about 125 subsidiaries in businesses ranging from banking and
oil to tourism and media (including a joint venture with CNN). The company
benefited from a rebound in the Turkish economy last year, quadrupling its
profits to $275 million.
23 Sly Bailey
CEO Trinity Mirror
Britain
The 42-year-old head of Britain's largest newspaper group has earned mixed
reviews this year. In May she was dragged into an embarrassing confrontation
with the government after Trinity Mirror's flagship paper, the Daily Mirror,
wrongly claimed to have photographic proof that British soldiers had
tortured Iraqis. The photos turned out to be elaborate fakes. Bailey has
done a better job managing the rest of Trinity Mirror's businesses: In the
first half of the year, pretax profit rose 26.6%, to $186 million, on sales
of $1 billion.
24 Dominique Heriard Dubreuil
Chairman Remy Cointreau
France
In July, Heriard Dubreuil, 57, bowed to corporate-governance critics and
resigned from her CEO post at the French champagne and liquor business that
her family controls. Heriard Dubreuil, who took over the company from her
father in 1998, remains chairman and will now spend more time on strategy
and investor relations. Her immediate task is figuring out how to get
Remy—whose brands include Jim Beam whiskey and Piper-Heidsieck
champagne—back on track. In the year that ended in March, net profit fell
25%, to $93.5 million, on sales of $1.1 billion, because of the strong euro,
the war in Iraq, and a weak global economy.
25 Carla Cico
President and CEO Brasil Telecom
Brazil
Things haven't been easy this year for Cico, the Italian who runs Brazil's
third-largest telecom. The $2.6 billion company is embroiled in a dispute
with Telecom Italia, which wants to boost its 19% stake back to the 38% it
owned until 2002. That, says Cico, 43, would mean Brasil Telecom would have
to withdraw from Brazil's fast-growing mobile-phone business, where Telecom
Italia also competes. The two companies have until July to resolve their
dispute. Meanwhile, Brasil Telecom's revenue rose 12% last year, while
profits fell by two-thirds because of write-offs and mobile-phone
investments.
26 Barbara Kux
Chief Procurement Officer Royal Philips Electronics
Netherlands
As the highest-ranking woman at this 112-year-old Dutch electronics company,
Kux, 50, oversees $23 billion of annual purchases. She has implemented new
programs to cut purchasing costs by $280 million and reduce the number of
suppliers. She is also taking on Philips's corporate culture as chair of its
sustainability board: She wants to double the percentage of female
managers—currently only 5%— within the next five years.
27 Barbara Dalibard
Executive Vice President France Telecom
France
Dalibard, 45, heads France Telecom's Enterprise Communication Services unit,
which last year had estimated sales of $11 billion, about one-fifth of the
telecom giant's revenue. One of only two woman on the company's executive
committee, she oversees telecommunication services to large, medium, and
small companies in France, as well as France Telecom's international data
network, Equant.
28 Ann Godbehere
CFO
Swiss Re
Switzerland
Godbehere has worked her way through the upper echelons of Swiss Re since
joining the company in 1996. The 49-year-old Canadian was appointed CFO last
year, and so far she's been having a good run: In 2003, Swiss Re, the
world's largest life and health reinsurer, had sales of $29.1 billion and
profits of $1.3 billion, returning to the black after posting a loss the
previous year. In the first half of 2004, profits doubled to $1.2 billion.
29 Maria Ramos
CEO Transnet
South Africa
Ramos, 45, heads Transnet, South Africa's transport monopoly, which runs the
country's trains, operates its ports, and owns 95% of South African Airways.
The job has not been easy since Ramos, a former treasury director, took over
in January. The $6.6 billion company reported a loss of nearly $1 billion in
the year ended March 31. Still, the general consensus is that Ramos— who is
known for her toughness in cutting South Africa's debt—is the right person
to get Transnet back on track.
30 Dawn Robertson
CEO
Myer
Australia
Australians wince when they learn that their most powerful female executive
is an American. But they'd better get used to it. This 49-year-old Alabama
native, who heads the Myer department store chain, is likely to increase her
clout when boss John Fletcher, the CEO of Myer's parent, Coles Myer, retires
next year. After bringing the sluggish Myer division from a $15 million loss
in 2002 to a $15 million profit on $2.3 billion in sales last year,
Robertson is the preferred pick among analysts to take over the top slot.
The former Macy's executive is already Australia's highest-paid female
executive (2003 salary: $2.5 million).
31 Sawako Noma
President and CEO Kodansha
Japan
This 61-year-old former housewife took over as president in 1987 after the
death of her husband and quickly established her power at Japan's largest
publishing house, which last year posted revenue of $1.5 billion. Always
looking for new business ideas, Kodansha, along with 14 other companies,
including Sony, set up a joint electronic book renting and publishing
venture in April called Publishing Link. Kodansha has also been in talks
with Chinese publishers about producing Chinese versions of two of its
popular women's magazines in addition to current titles, With and Vivi.
32 Theresa Gattung
CEO
Telecom Corp. of New Zealand
New Zealand
Gattung, New Zealand's highest-paid CEO, decided at 18 that she would one
day lead a public company. A former banker, the 42-year-old achieved her
goal five years ago when she became head of New Zealand's largest company.
Gattung is getting Telecom Corp. back on track after it took a $390 million
write-off in 2002 for acquisitions in Australia. Revenue rose 3%, to $3.4
billion, in the year ended June 2004, while profits rose 6%, to $477
million. The company is rolling out 3G mobile-phone service this year and
already provides 93% of its customers with broadband.
33 Franchise Gri
CEO
IBM France
France
Gri, 47, heads an IBM country unit that delivered $4.8 billion in revenue to
Big Blue last year. A graduate of Grenoble's prestigious ENSI engineering
college, Gri has spent her entire career at IBM, both at home and abroad.
Since becoming CEO of IBM France in August 2001, she has successfully
steered the division through the technology downturn.
34 Yoshiko Shinohara
President Tempstaff
Japan
Shinohara started her temp agency in a small rented apartment in 1973.
Thirty-one years later her company has sales of $1.5 billion, with six
offices overseas and 91 in Japan. At 70, Shinohara is now taking her company
into new markets, providing highly professional staff in the medical,
nursing, and child-care fields.
35 Louise Julian
CEO
EF Education
Switzerland
Julian became CEO of EF Education in 2002 after founder and owner Bertil
Hull, one of Sweden's richest men, stepped down. Now based in Lucerne, EF
Education, the world's largest privately held language school, teaches
English to some 2.5 million students and professionals every year. The $1.4
billion company has offices in 48 countries and launches one language school
every week. An 18-year EF veteran, Julian, 46, is busy making sure the
company can satisfy the growing demand for English classes in all parts of
the world.
36 Galia Maor
President and CEO Bank Leumi
Israel
Maor, 61, is expanding the banks private and corporate banking operations
abroad after spending the last few years cutting jobs and shutting excess
branches. Bank Leumi made a comeback last year with profits jumping 171%, to
$260 million, after falling more than 50% in 2002. The bank, 30% owned by
the Israeli government, saw revenue rise 12%, to $3.8 billion.
37 Lubna Olayan
CEO
Olayan Financing
Saudi Arabia
As head of Olayan Financing, Olayan, 49, is Saudi Arabia's most powerful
woman. The OFC is the Saudi arm of the Olayan Group, a private conglomerate
of some 50 companies and affiliates founded by Olayan's late father in 1947.
Olayan Financing, with estimated sales of more than $1 billion and some
9,000 employees, operates business rangingfrom real estate investments to
distributing Coca-Cola.
38 Vidya Chhabria
Chairman Jumbo Group
Dubai
Chhabria runs the $2 billion Jumbo Group, the largest distributor of Sony
products in the world. Jumbo has 28 retail outlets in United Arab Emirates
and operates 28 companies in India employing 20,000. The 56-year-old
Chhabria, who divides her time between India and Dubai, became chairman two
years ago after the death of her husband. This year she resolved a
20-year-old business dispute with UB Group, India's largest brewer, over
ownership of liquormaker Shaw Wallace.
39 Dominique Reiniche
Senior Vice President Coca-Cola Enterprises
France
Reiniche, 48, runs the Coke bottler's operations in France, Britain,
Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, which account for about 25% of the
U.S.company's annual revenue of $17.3 billion. Last year volume in Europe
rose 5.5% as a result of unusually hot weather and the introduction of new
brands, such as Vanilla Coke and Diet Coke with lemon. This year sales at
Coke's biggest worldwide bottler aren't so rosy. Coca-Cola Enterprises says
it expects sales by volume in Europe to drop 3%.
40 Amelia Fawcett
Vice Chairman Morgan Stanley Europe
Britain
As the No. 2 at Morgan Stanley in Europe, Fawcett, 48, is responsible for
developing and implementing the investment bank's strategy across the
region. Last year she helped Morgan Stanley generate $4.1 billion in
revenue. An American with a law degree from the University of Virginia,
Fawcett joined the bank in 1987 after working for law firm Sullivan &
Cromwell in New York City and Paris. She has made steady progress since,
becoming a managing director in 1996 and vice chairman for Europe in 2002.
41 Hiroko Wada
President and COO Toys "R" Us Japan
Wada, 50, succeeded former Toys "R" Us Japan president Manabu Tazaki in
April. A Procter & Gamble veteran, Wada had been president of Dyson, an
innovative British home-appliance company, until 2002, when she left to
pursue other opportunities. Her mission at Toys "R" Us Japan, which posted
$1.7 billion in sales there last year, is to boost customer service and
expand the number of stores from the current 149 to 250 by 2010. She vows
that the company won't share the troubles of its U.S. parent, which owns
47.8% of the Japanese company.
42 Dong Mingzhu
General Manager Gree Electric Appliances China
A sometime writer, Dong, 50, has been the general manager of Gree Electric
Appliance since 2001. Her autobiography, LayOutin the World, is a must for
any-one doing business in China. She has been battling with major
distributors, demanding they charge Gree's full retail prices. That helped
boost revenue by 43%, to $1.2 billion, in 2003. Recent expansion has given
Gree a capacity of one million units a year, making it the world's largest
air-conditioner manufacturer. But a shadow was cast over the company this
summer when a vice president and several other managers at Gree's parent
group were charged with embezzlement.
43 Chua Sock Koong
Singapore Telecommunications
Singapore
After SingTel's three-year, $20 billion spending spree, snapping up telecoms
across the Asia-Pacific region, Chua was entrusted with the task of
stitching it all together. That's no mean feat: SingTel's $7 billion revenue
and $1.7 billion profit last year was counted in euros, Australian dollars,
Indian rupees, Thai baht, Fil-ipino pesos, Indonesia rupiah, and the home
currency of Singapore dollars. Juggling those volatile currencies doesn't
seem to fluster the ice-cool Chua, who's also a fitness fanatic. The
Singapore University accountancy graduate is a board member of SingTel's
far-flung associate businesses and spends as much time on planes as she does
punching a calculator—two reasons that SingTel's long-underperforming shares
shot up 50% over the past year.
44 Marjorie Yang
Chairman and CEO Esquel Group
Hong Kong
Yang, 52, manages one of the world's leading cotton-shirt makers, the
family-run and privately owned Esquel. With $500 million in annual revenue,
the group has 47,000 employees in Hong Kong, mainland China, Malaysia, Sri
Lanka, Vietnam, and Mauritius. It produces 60 million garments annually for
leading brands such as Tommy Hilfiger, Hugo Boss, Brooks Brothers,
Abercrombie & Fitch, Nike, Lands' End, Muji, Marks & Spencer, Nordstrom, and
Jusco. Yang is expanding production capacity, as well as closing factories
that aren't competitive, in preparation for greater free trade in textiles.
45 Ofra Strauss-Lahat
Chairman Stauss-Elite Group
Israel
Strauss-Lahat, 44, spent most of the past year preparing the integration of
Strauss, the private arm of the company, into Elite, its public part. The
merger was finalized in March, and the company is now listed as
Strauss-Elite on the Tel Aviv stock exchange. Strauss-Elite, which sells
products ranging from ice cream to coffee and salad, is Israel's
second-largest food company, with estimated sales of $822 million last year.
46 Musharaf Hai
Chairman Unilever Pakistan
The most prominent businesswoman in a country where women aren't usually
allowed to shine, Hai, 49, has run Unilever in Pakistan since 2001. The
first woman, and only the second Pakistani, to head Unilever's operations in
the country, she often gets called for advice by top government officials.
Last year, the unit had revenue of $369 million, making it Pakistan's
biggest consumer-goods company. Hai assumes that in a few years she will go
to a post elsewhere in Unilever, continuing a high-profile career track that
began in 1983 when she joined the company after graduating from the London
School of Economics and Boston University.
47 Teresita Sy-Coson
Executive Vice President SM Prime Holdings
Philippines
Sy-Coson may not share her father Henry's taste for loud Hawaiian shirts,
but she's proving that her skill in the boardroom at family empire SM Prime
Holdings is at least the equal of her wily octogenarian dad. With its 18
malls across the archipelago, SM Prime, under Sy-Coson's hand, seems to keep
on growing. Profits this year are expected to top $80 million, on revenue of
$2 billion, fueled by a resurgent Filipino economy and Sy-Coson's addition
of two more malls to the portfolio. Next year's goal: the company's biggest
expansion yet—three more complexes, including one that will become the
group's Manila flagship, the 4.2-million-square-foot Mall of Asia.
48 Wanda Rapaczynski
President Agora
Poland
Rapaczynski, 56, heads Central Europe's largest print and radio company.
Agora owns 29 radio stations, outdoor advertising, 14 magazines, and
Poland's first independent daily, Gazefa, which was established in 1989. The
ad market for this group began to come back last year, with annual revenue
rising by 8.7%, to $234 million.
49 Pansy Ho
Managing Director Shun Tak Holdings
Hong Kong
Of Stanley Ho's 17 children from four wives, Pansy, 42, is considered the
heir apparent to her father's $660 million casino empire. But the
party-girl-turned-serious-businesswoman has a big challenge ahead. Shun Tak
lost its four-decade gambling monopoly in Macao two years ago and is facing
competition from American casino companies. That could be why Ho signed a
50-50 joint venture in June with MSM Mirage, the world's biggest casino
operator. She is also planning to spend $128 million in the next three to
five years to update the company's Macao hotel and restaurant empire.
50 Ludmila Petranova
Chairman and CEO
CEPS
Czech Republic
Petranova, 58, runs the Czech Republic's state-owned transmission grid that
supplies electricity throughout the country. A graduate of the Czech
Technical University's Faculty of Nuclear and Physical Engineering in
Prague, Petranova has spent her career as an executive at a number of
industrial, financial, and power-generation firms in her homeland. She has
been CEO of CEPS since 2002, which last year saw its revenue rise 44%, to
$543 million.
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