When Fortune released its first list of the world’s most powerful businesswomen in 1998, most of those featured came from creative fields like media and publishing — and as it noted at the time, none who were heading up top “blue chip firms” .
That’s changed this year, with Fortune’s 2014 list revealing a record 24 female CEOs, meaning almost half the total number of the women are heading up huge companies, and working hard to transform their businesses.
Or as Fortune’s Alan Murray put it, “The women who survive the hyper-Darwinian struggled to the top are a formidable group … [who’ve] been handed some exceptionally tough assignments”.
Topping the list for the third time is IBM chair Ginni Rometty, despite IBM’s 5% revenue decline for the second year in a row.
General Motors CEO, Mary Barra and PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi rounded out second and third place.
Westpac CEO Gail Kelly was one of only two Australians to place on the list of Asia Pacific’s most powerful women. She was recognised for both keeping the bank’s $38.5 billion revenue rising and for making significant contributions to gender parity in senior management positions within the company, which now sits at 42% female — up 10% in four years.
Alison Watkins, the managing director of Coca-Cola Amatil and one of only four female CEOs of Australia’s top 50 ASX listed companies, came in at number 21 on the Asia-Pacific list. She took on the role at Coca Cola Amatil after leaving GrainCorp earlier this year.
There were a number of women who are working in top positions in tech who placed high on the list: Hewlett-Packard Chairman and CEO Meg Whitman took the 6th position, while Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg, who came in at number 10, was also the highest earning woman on the list, taking home $38 million in 2013.
Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo, who placed 16, was the second highest earner, and also the youngest woman on the list at age 39. Recently appointed CEO of YouTube, Susan Wojcicki, came in at number 19, while Ursula Burns, CEO and chairwoman of Xerox came in at number 17.
Below are the top 25 women in business in America:
- Ginni Rometty: Chairman, CEO, and President of IBM
- Mary Barra: CEO of General Motors
- Indra Nooyi: Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo
- Marillyn Hewson: Chairman, CEO, and President of Lockheed Martin
- Ellen Kullman: Chairman and CEO of DuPont
- Meg Whitman: Chairman, CEO, and President of Hewlett-Packard
- Irene Rosenfeld: Chairman and CEO of Mondelez International
- Pat Woertz: Chairman, CEO, and President of Archer Daniels Midland
- Abigail Johnson: President of FMR (parent of Fidelity Investments)
- Sheryl Sandberg: COO of Facebook
- Phebe Novakovic: Chairman and CEO of General Dynamics
- Carol Meyrowitz: CEO of TJX Companies
- Lynn Good: CEO and President of Duke Energy
- Safra Catz: Co-President and CFO of Oracle
- Rosalind Brewer: CEO and President, Sam’s Club of Wal-Mart Stores
- Marissa Mayer: CEO and President of Yahoo
- Ursula Burns: Chairman and CEO of Xerox
- Melanie Healey: Group President, North America of Procter & Gamble
- Susan Wojcicki: CEO, YouTube of Google
- Sandi Peterson: Group Worldwide Chairman of Johnson & Johnson
- Renée James: President of Intel
- Pam Nicholson: President and CEO of Enterprise Holdings
- Deb Henretta: Group President, Global Beauty of Procter & Gamble
- Denise Morrison: CEO and President of Campbell Soup
- Gail Boudreaux: CEO, UnitedHealthcare, and EVP, UnitedHealth Group of UnitedHealth Group
And the top ten most powerful women in business in Asia Pacific:
- Gail Kelly: Managing Director and CEO, Westpac Group, Australia
- Chanda Kochhar, Managing Director and CEO, ICICI Bank, India
- Chua Sock Koong, CEO, Singapore Telecommunications, Singapore
- Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairman, State Bank of India India
- Nishi Vasudeva, Chairman and Managing Director, Hindustan Petroleum, India
- Li Dang, President, China General Technology, China
- Ho Ching, Executive Director and CEO, Temasek, Singapore
- Dong Mingzhu, Chairperson and President, Gree Electric Appliances of Zhuhai, China
- Wang Fengying, CEO and Executive Director, Great Wall Motor, China
- Shikha Sharma,Managing Director and CEO, Axis Bank, India (32)
Check out the full list anf Fortune’s most powerful women features here.