In this article we are going to list the 15 biggest companies with female CEOs. As men, we don’t often tend to realize it, but it has been a tough world for women to live in across history, and while signs of betterment can be seen on the horizon as steps are being taken and feminism grows, a lot more needs to be done still to ensure equality between genders, equal opportunities and and equal benefits as well.
Throughout history, men have been the dominant force and straight white men have been the absolute dominant force in countries where they were present or had conquered. Even in countries such as Africa or in Asia where the vast majority of the population is not white, men have regardless dominated throughout history. Look at any nation, any culture and you’ll see that it has been run by men while women have had, to put it kindly, a subservient role. And why is that? It’s not like men have consisted of a significant majority, as even now, the global population is more or less equally split between the genders. It’s also not because men have been far more intelligent or superior in mental capabilities than women. It has had to do, more or less, with just physical strength. Since men were physically stronger, they were able to establish their authority and since women didn’t have the tools to fight back, they had to accept this supremacy unfortunately. This was then passed down generation to generation and myths were started that women are not intellectually equal to men, and they should only be considered for house work and raising children, rather than concerning themselves in finance, politics or anything that would require critical thinking. This belief has further been lent credence by many major religions as well, which deem men as protectors of women and do not allow women to go out of the house unless there’s a vey valid reason and even then to cover themselves completely from head to toe. Basically, women have been in lockdown for millennia.
Even today, in nations which are more conservative, you will see very few women out and about, as opposed to developed economies which have seen women rise and shatter many a glass ceiling on their way to the top. Of course, even in developed countries more is still required to bring the two primary genders to an equal footing but at least the women there don’t face the same predicaments as the women in developing countries, where their rights are still subjugated. And anywhere you go in the world, you will still see stereotypes passed down through centuries, and even adapted for modern technology, which will mention that women can’t manage a budget as they don’t understand finance or women can’t drive or at least not as well as men. These kinds of stereotypes are fine if only taken in light fun, but the problem is, many people actually believe them and start to demean women, which leads to troubles.
However, women are very resilient if nothing else and while the deck may have been stacked against them, they have kept on fighting for their rights and shown significant progress with their achievements. After all, women weren’t even allowed to wait until a century ago in the US, the self proclaimed defender of human rights and yet did not provide those same rights to women until long after men. Now, a lot more women are working rather than becoming stay at home moms, not that there’s anything wrong with that but a woman should always have the choice to choose. In fact more than 57% of the women in the United States are not working, despite the joblessness caused by Covid-19 for millions of Americans, which has hurt the growth of women in working fields. Despite these setbacks, they have continued to, as I mentioned earlier, shatter glass ceiling after glass ceiling and reach the top position of some of the biggest companies in not just the US but the world at large as well. Now, there are 37 women in the list of Fortune 500, which tracks the biggest companies in the US by far. Unfortunately, Fortune 500 Global only shows us 13 women CEOs, which shows the lack of diversity in countries across the world.
2020 has still been a landmark year for women, who have made their presence felt across several industries, nations and companies, to become the CEO of these companies and help them grow further. The biggest companies with woman CEOs have been ascertained using the Fortune 500 Global ranking of the biggest companies in the world by revenue as well as the Fortune 500 list, since the global list only has 13 women CEOs. We have ranked these companies by their revenue, which in total comes to around $850 billion. This just shows the power that these women have in today’s corporate world. So let’s take a look at the women who are actually running the world, or are at least very influential, starting with number 15:
15. Occidental Petroloeum (NYSE:OXY)
Total revenue of the company in 2019 (in billions of dollars): 22
Occidental is engaged in hydrocarbon exploration, and has a worldwide presence. It is run by Vicki Hollub, who has been the CEO since 2016.
Pixbabay/Public Domain
14. Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK)
Total revenue of the company in 2019 (in billions of dollars): 24.7
An electric power holding company operating in the US, while also having assets in Canada. Lynn J. Good is the CEO of the company and has been since 2013.
Pixbabay/Public Domain
13. Northrop Gruman (NYSE:NOC)
Total revenue of the company in 2019 (in billions of dollars): 33.8
Northrop is an aerospace and defense technology company, and is head by Kathy Warden, who has been the CEO since 2019.
Pixabay/Public Domain
12. Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)
Total revenue of the company in 2019 (in billions of dollars): 39
One of the largest insurance companies in the US, it is headed by Tricia Griffith who was appointed as the CEO back in 2016.
Pixabay/Public Domain
11. General Dynamics (NYSE:GD)
Total revenue of the company in 2019 (in billions of dollars): 39.3
General Dynamics is one of the biggest aerospace and defense companies in the world, and Phebe Novakovic is the CEO, and has been listed as one of the most powerful women in business by Forbes.
10. Oracle (NYSE:ORCL)
Total revenue of the company in 2019 (in billions of dollars): 39.5
Oracle has more than 135,000 employees, while the CEO is Safra Catz, who was appointed as joint CEO in 2014.
Ken Wolter/shutterstock.com
9. GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK)
Total revenue of the company in 2019 (in billions of dollars): 43
Emma Walsmley is the CEO of one of the biggest biotech companies in the world in GSK, appointed as CEO in 2017. She worked for L’oreal for 17 years prior to GSK and is now leading the charge as the company partners with Sanofi and attempts to find a vaccine for Covid-19.
Pixabay/Public Domain
8. Accenture (NYSE:ACN)
Total revenue of the company in 2019 (in billions of dollars): 43.2
Accenture is an American Irish company, providing professional services in more than 120 countries across the world, with the CEO being Julie Sweet and is said to be one of the most influential women in corporate America.
Pixabay/Public Domain
7. Best Buy (NYSE:BBY)
Total revenue of the company in 2019 (in billions of dollars): 43.6
Best Buy is a famous consumer electronics retailer in the US and Corie Barry is the CEO of the company. She was recently in the news after a whistleblower accused her of having an affair with a co-worker.
Pixabay/Public Domain
6. Thyssenkrupp
Total revenue of the company in 2019 (in billions of dollars): 47.3
The German conglomerate is one of the biggest steel producers in the world, and was established in 1999 after the merger of Thyssen AG and Krupp. Martina Mertz is the CEO and has often been called as the most powerful woman in the German economy, after becoming the CEO back in 2019.
bogdanhoda/Shutterstock.com
5. Engie
Total revenue of the company in 2019 (in billions of dollars): 67.2
Engie is an electric utility company located in France, and is involved in multiple fields within the industry, including electricity generation, energy transition, and distribution as well, including nuclear, renewable energy and natural gas. The current interim of the CEO is Claire Waysand, while the permanent CEO will be Catherine MacGregor from 2021 onwards, and will be in charge of more than 171,000 employees.
KRITSANA NOISAKUL/Shutterstock.com
4. United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS)
Total revenue of the company in 2019 (in billions of dollars): 74.1
UPS is one of the biggest logistics companies in the world, and has close to half a million employees, with the number of employees greater than the population of most small cities. Carol Tomé is the CEO of the company and has been since June 2020, so she is relatively new in her reign. Only time will tell how far she is able to take the company.
Pixabay/Public Domain
3. Aviva
Total revenue of the company in 2019 (in billions of dollars): 89.62
Aviva is a British multinational insurance company and the headquarters of the company are located in London, England. The company is run by Amanda Blanc, who became the CEO of the company in July 2020, and is one of the most recent female CEOs in our list. Before being the CEO of Aviva, she served as the CEO of Axa as well as the CEO at Zurich Insurance Group. She has also become the first woman to become the chair of the Association of British Insurers and is looking to take Aviva to new heights.
Pixabay/Public Domain
2. Anthem Inc. (NYSE:ANTM)
Total revenue of the company in 2019 (in billions of dollars): 104.2
The first of only two companies with over $100 billion in revenue to have female CEOs, Anthem is a healthcare company and one of the largest healthcare companies in the world by revenue. Both the chairman and the CEO are women in the company, with the CEO being Gail Koziara Boudreax. Boudreax is an extremely talented person who was a prime athlete in her youth, excelling particularly in basketball. Her achievements in the corporate world even surpassed her athletic achievements and has been an executive for many different companies, before becoming the CEO of Anthem Inc. She has been consistently ranked among the most influential and powerful women in the world by both Forbes and Fortune. She became the CEO of Anthem in 2017.
Jonathan Weiss/Shutterstock.com
1. General Motors (NYSE:GM)
Total revenue of the company in 2019 (in billions of dollars): 137.2
It is very appropriate that the company topping the list of the 10 biggest companies with female CEOs is General Motors. Why is this so appropriate? Well for the longest time, automobiles and cars were considered the domain of men. Apparently, there was nothing more manly in the world than building cars or fixing them or improving them. So in that case, the fact that a woman is the CEO of one of the largest automobile companies in the world shows just how far women have come in breaking glass ceiling and stereotypes together.
Mary Barra is the CEO of General Motors, and has been for the past 6 years, having been appointed back in 2014. It won’t be surprising for you to hear that she is actually the first CEO of a major automaker. She started working in the company at just the age of 18, in 190 as a co-op student. Her job was to inspect hoods as well as fender panels, and she took on the job just to pay off her tuition. She kept on progressing though and didn’t let anything hold her back, moving on from position to position, becoming the vice president of Global Manufacturing Engineering finally in 2008. In the next year, she then became the vice president of Global Human Resources, before becoming the vice president of Global Product Development in 2011. She then became the CEO of the company of 2014. She had a troubled start as the CEO as in her first year as there were major safety recalls which involved over 30 million cars, and she had to actually testify before the Senate. She has also led GM into moving to automated and driverless cars, as well as electric powered cars, and has made acquisitions in this respect as well, including the purchase of Strobe. She also attracted some controversy in 2014, when she announced the closure of five plants in North America, leading to the layoff of 14,000 employees, a decision which even drew the ire of President Trump.
Linda Parton / Shutterstock.com
Suggested articles:
Disclosure: No position. 15 biggest companies with Indian CEOs is originally published at Insider Monkey.
