MOST POWERFUL WOMEN

THIS DEFINITIVE ranking of the women at the top of the global business world— now in its 28th year—tells us both who wields power today and who is poised to climb even higher tomorrow.

- Emma Hinchliffe

While the Most Powerful Women list has always been data-driven, with executives chosen based on the size and health of their businesses or P&Ls, this year it is even more so. (We’ve changed the publication date, too.) For the first time, Fortune relied on a more complex scoring system, assigning values to candidates based on those business metrics (over both 12-month and three-year periods), as well as an executive’s influence, innovation, career trajectory, and efforts to make business better. We introduced this methodology with our first Most Powerful People list in 2024. The system gives an edge to CEOs—and those vying to succeed CEOs in closely watched contests at companies like Disney and JPMorgan Chase— so some familiar C-suite names in other roles fall further down the list than in years past.

While more than 50 women lead Fortune 500 companies, only 20 Fortune 500 CEOs are on our list—a reflection of just how competitive it has become. Alongside this year’s top three—our repeat No. 1, GM chief Mary Barra; Accenture CEO Julie Sweet; and Citigroup head Jane Fraser—are senior leaders at the world’s most important companies, from Walmart to Netflix.

Just over half the list is made up of women working in the U.S., which remains miles ahead of other countries at getting women to the very top of the corporate ladder; 48 are based in other nations, with 19 countries and territories represented. The U.S. is followed by China (eight), France (seven), the U.K. (seven), and Brazil (three).