Where are the women in boardrooms?
It’s no secret that boardrooms are made up primarily of men – a trend that needs to change. However, those women currently sitting in the C suite are making their presence felt
Hilary Devey
In the UK, Hilary Devey is well known to viewers of the popular BBC programme, Dragon’s Den. Her no nonsense approach is famous and it is this level headedness that has helped her establish a net worth of £50m through her role as CEO of her Pall-Ex haulage firm which she founded in 1996.
Carol Bartz
Known as a firebrand and famous for her creative use of language, Carol Bartz is the former CEO of Yahoo. She was fired from her post in February 2012 despite increasing the company’s profits from $285m to a staggering $1,523m in just six years. Bartz started her career in computers at software giant Autodesk, and she was previously one of the world’s first women to rise to the boardroom during her 14 year tenure at the firm.
Oprah Winfrey
Winfrey is almost as famous for her acting and TV presenting roles as she is for being a leading US CEO. She is the chair of production company Harpo, and recently assumed the role of CEO for the Oprah Winfrey Network, OWN. Winfrey’s business acumen has recently led her to transform the top tier management of OWN, in a bid to achieve long-term success for the cable network and to improve the channel’s ratings.
Cher Wang
Cher Wang is something of a technological genius. She is currently the chair of HTC, the company behind the Android operating system for Google that led to further development of the smartphone. In 2011, HTC posted income of $9.6bn and this figure is set to rise following HTC’s investment in Beats Electric, the headset manufacturer, started by iconic DJ, Dr Dre. Cher Wang initially founded HTC in Taiwan in the 1990s and the company has seen meteoric growth under her leadership.
Ellen Kullman
Ellen Kullman is the CEO of DuPont. She has been described as one of the world’s most powerful women by Forbes. Kullman has been CEO at DuPont since 2009 and she was the first woman ever to hold that position in this company. Kullman started her life as an engineer, following a degree from the Tufts University, she and has worked for DuPont since 1988. She was promoted to the role of vice president and she has continued her meteoric rise ever since.
Irene Rosenfeld
Irene Rosenfeld is the world’s most powerful CEO according to research sttistics. She is CEO of food giant Kraft and has worked within the food industry. She is the driving force behind the recent Kraft mergers and takeovers, including the company’s acquisition of the UK’s Cadbury brand.
