Who are the most powerful women in the world? According to the Forbes 2013 World’s Most Powerful Women List, they come from diverse industries, including business, technology, media, politics, philanthropy, real estate, investments, fashion and retail, food and beverage, and entertainment (i.e., celebrities).
Of the 100 power women on the list, a large percentage work in business. However, there is a great deal of overlap in the categories which skews the percentages.
For example, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg is included in the technology category, but she certainly belongs in the business category, too. Similarly, Sara Blakely, Founder and CEO of Spanx, appears in the fashion and retail category, but she belongs in the business category as well.
Therefore, the percentage of women in business on the list of the most powerful women in the world in 2013 is higher than it appears on the full Forbes list where each woman is listed within the category Forbes put her in.
With that in mind, you should view the complete list by analyzing each woman, her job, and her company or organization to fully understand how many women in business are included in this list. It turns out that the majority are business women.
Looking at the business and technology categories alone, eight business women appear in the top 25 most powerful women in the world in 2013:
6. Sheryl Sanberg, COO, Facebook
10. Indra Nooyi, CEO, PepsiCo
12. Virginia Rometty, CEO, IBM
14. Ursula Burns, Chairman and CEO, Xerox
15. Meg Whitman, CEO, Hewlett-Packard
18. Maria das Gracas Silva Foster, CEO, Petrobras
20. Irene Rosenfeld, CEO, Mondelez Interntional
23. Safra Katz, CFO, Oracle
At the top of the 2013 list of the most powerful women in the world is German Chancellor Angela Merkel who has appeared on the list for eight of the past 10 years. In fact, nine of the women on the 2013 list also appeared on the first list of the most powerful women in the world, which was published in 2004. The list includes 15 newcomers, too.
You can read more about the list on the Forbes website and follow the link at the beginning of the article to view the full list of 100 power women.
Susan Gunelius
Susan Gunelius is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Women on Business. She is a 30-year veteran of the marketing field and has authored a dozen books about marketing, branding, and social media, including the highly popular Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing, 30-Minute Social Media Marketing, Content Marketing for Dummies, Blogging All-in-One for Dummies and Kick-ass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps. Susan’s marketing-related content can be found on Entrepreneur.com, Forbes.com, MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, and more. Susan is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She has worked in corporate marketing roles and through client relationships with AT&T, HSBC, Citibank, Intuit, The New York Times, Cox Communications, and many more large and small companies around the world. Susan also speaks about marketing, branding and social media at events around the world and is frequently interviewed by television, online, radio, and print media organizations about these topics. She holds an MBA in Management and Strategy and a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing and is a Certified Professional Career Coach (CPCC).
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