According to a list compiled by Fortune Magazine, a total of 37 women are heading Fortune 500 companies. This number is an all-time high record, a substantial increase from the 33 women and 24 women heading such companies in 2019 and 2018 respectively.
And while this is the largest number of women CEOs heading Fortune 500 companies, unfortunately, it is only a mere 7.4 per cent of all the business leaders of America’s largest companies ranked by Fortune.
Here is a list of the 37 women leaders:
| CEO | Company Name | CEO start date |
| Anna Manning | Reinsurance Group of America | 2017 |
| Kathryn Marinello | Hertz Global Holdings | 2017 |
| Kathleen Mazzarella | Graybar Electric | 2012 |
| Cheryl Miller | Autonation | 2019 |
| Deanna Mulligan | Guardian Life Ins. Co. of America | 2011 |
| Phebe Novakovic | General Dynamics | 2013 |
| Kristin Peck | Zoetis | 2020 |
| Penny Pennington | Jones Financial (Edward Jones) | 2019 |
| Patricia Poppe | CMS Energy | 2016 |
| Teresa Rasmussen | Thrivent Financial | 2018 |
| Barbara Rentler | Ross Stores | 2014 |
| Lori Ryerkerk | Celanese | 2019 |
| Barbara Smith | Commercial Metals | 2017 |
| Jill Soltau | J. C Penney | 2018 |
| Lisa Su | Advanced Micro Devices | 2014 |
| Sonia Syngal | GAP | 2020 |
| Carol Tome | United Parcel Services | 2020 |
| Kathy Warden | Northrop Grumman | 2019 |
| Joey Wat | Yum China | 2018 |
| Laura Alber | Williams-Sonoma | 2010 |
| Mary Barra | General Motors | 2014 |
| Corie Barry | Best Buy | 2019 |
| Gail Bordreaux | Anthem | 2017 |
| Michele Buck | Hershey | 2017 |
| Safra Catz | Oracle | 2014 |
| Mary Dillon | Ulta Beauty | 2013 |
| Heyward Donigan | Rite Aid | 2019 |
| Beth Ford | Land O’Lakes | 2018 |
| Michelle Gass | Kohl’s | 2018 |
| Lynn Good | Duke Energy | 2013 |
| Susan Patricia Griffith | Progressive | 2016 |
| Vicki Hollub | Occidental Petroleum | 2016 |
| Jennifer Johnson | Franklin Resources | 2020 |
| Margaret Keane | Synchrony Financial | 2014 |
| Nazzic Keene | Science Applications International | 2019 |
| Mary Laschinger | Veritiv | 2014 |
| Christine Leahy | CDW | 2019 |
Quite a few women in this list were featured for the very first time. For instance, Heyward Donigan became the CEO of Rite Aid in 2019 as did Sonia Syngal of GAP. Similarly, Carol Tome of UPS, Kristin Peck of Zoetis, and Jennifer Johnson of Franklin Resources have been listed for the first time ever.
Also, many are leading organizations that have been listed on the Fortune 500 list for the first time: Science Applications International and Commercial Metals headed by Nazzic Keene and Barbara Smith respectively are organizations that have made it to the list only this year.
The biggest of these companies headed by a woman is General Motors, the $137 billion worth auto giant. Mary Barra has headed the company since 2014.
Unfortunately, there is very little racial diversity in the women featured on the list. Only three women of colour feature on the list, and none of the Fortune 500 companies are headed by a black woman.
While the trend of an increasing number of women heading Fortune 500 is encouraging, we hope that this number is much higher next year.
