The Top 10 Influential Women in Business
Don’t cut off your career branches too early. Don’t step away from your career based on what ‘might’ happen.
– Mary Barra, chairwoman and CEO of General Motors
In today’s competitive world, where modernization and globalization are at their peak, women are on par with their male counterparts. Women’s leadership is setting a global example of what a woman can achieve.
When we look around the world, women are taking big steps in decision-making, innovation, global leadership, etc. They have marched to great lengths to achieve gender equality and challenge the numerous hurdles they are surrounded by.
Their role is now being recognized and respected. Even the most influential women in business are not spared from stereotypes, but their determination and resilience have made them the global business leaders of today. Women have been paving the way in entrepreneurship for many decades. One such example is Estée Lauder, a cosmetics company that rules the market today and was launched in the 1940s. There are many such examples of women who have made their mark in this business world. Below, we have created a list of the top 10 influential women in business who have challenged such stereotypes and achieved greatness.
The Top 10 Influential Women in Business
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Mary Barra
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Kiran Mazumdar Shaw
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Sara Blakely
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Melanie Perkins
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Oprah Winfrey
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Anne Wojcicki
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Arianna Huffington
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Whitney Wolfe Herd
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Indra Nooyi
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Jane Fraser
1. Mary Barra
The first woman on our list of the top 10 influential women in business is Mary Barra. Mary Barra is an American businesswoman who has been the CEO of General Motors since 2014. She was born on December 24, 1961, in Michigan. She started her career working at General Motors when she was 18 years old. At that time, her role was to check the fender panels and inspect the hood. This helped her earn money for college tuition. In 2008, she became the vice president of global manufacturing and engineering at General Motors. She later became the vice president of global product development at General Motors in 2011. Eventually, she became the chief executive in January 2014. Mary has also been a board member at Disney since 2022.
2. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw
The next businesswoman on our list of the is Kiran Mazumdar Shaw. She is the Biotech Queen of India, who founded Biocon Limited and Biocon Biologics Limited. She was born on March 23, 1953. She is a billionaire entrepreneur from India who has been listed among the Forbes World’s 100 most powerful women multiple times. She is one of the pioneers that countless women look up to while pursuing a career in STEM. In 2004, Biocon was the first biotechnology company in India to be listed on the stock market. She has many philanthropic projects associated with her in relation to health, education, infrastructure development, etc.
3. Sara Blakely
The third woman on a list of the top 10 influential women in business is Sara Blakely, who is the founder of Spanx, which is an American apparel company. She was born on February 27, 1971, in Florida. She founded Spanx in 2000 by focusing on the concept of hosiery-based apparel that would suit different sizes. She invested her savings of $5000 at the age of 20 in developing her idea. Sara is deeply associated with women’s entrepreneurial development. She has her own foundation, the Sara Blakely Foundation, that helps train women in entrepreneurship. She is also listed on the Forbes list of the 100 most powerful women in the world.
4. Melanie Perkins
The next businesswoman on our list of the top 10 influential women in business is Melanie Perkins. Melanie Perkins was born in 1987 in Western Australia. She is the co-founder and CEO of Canva.
She started her entrepreneurial journey with her startup fusion books with her husband, Cliff Obrecht. This was the platform that helped students design their yearbooks, which gave her the idea eventually to create Canva. She has many notable mentions in Forbes as well as Fortune; she was mentioned in the titles Top Under 30s of the Decade and 100 Most Influential Women.
3. Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey is the next woman on our list of the top 10 influential women in business. She was born on January 29, 1954, in Mississippi. Oprah is a famous talk-show host, actress, author, and producer. She was once the only African-American woman billionaire. She had a rough childhood, but her hard work made her create a large media empire, Oxygen Media. In 2000, she was listed in the Forbes 100 most influential women for her career.
4. Anne Wojcicki
The sixth woman on our list of the top 10 influential women in business is Anne Wojcicki. Anne Wojcicki was born on July 28, 1973, in California. She is the co-founder and CEO of 23andMe. She launched her company in 2006, which offers direct customer genetic testing. She is the younger sister of Susan Wojcicki. Anna revolutionized the DNA testing industry with her company, which provided common people with access to genetic information.
5. Arianna Huffington
The next woman on our list of the top 10 influential women in business is Arianna Huffington. Arianna Huffington was born on July 15, 1950, in Greece. Arianna founded various organizations like Thrive, Huffington Post, etc. She is a very famous business leader in the media industry. She has been listed in Forbes as one of the most influential women in media as well as the most powerful woman in the world. She has also been listed in the Guardian’s top 100 media list. She started as an author with her book The Female Women, and in 2005, she founded the Huffington Post.
6. Whitney Wolfe Herd
Eighth on our list of influential women in business is Whitney Wolfe Herd. Born on July 5, 1989, Whitney Wolfe Herd is an American entrepreneur who co-founded Tinder, Bumble, and Chappy. She has been listed on the Forbes 30 under 30 and Times 100 lists. She was the youngest billionaire to list her company at the young age of 31 in 2014. Whitney founded Bumble, which was a female-centric dating app.
Furthermore, she was also mentioned in Business Insiders 30 as one of the most important women under 30 in tech. Whitney is one of the most famous self-made businesswomen who is leading the tech industry.
7. Indra Nooyi
The next woman on our list is Indira Nooyi, born on October 28, 1955, in Chennai. Indira Nooyi is one of the most famous business leaders. She started her career at Johnson & Johnson and then, in 1994, joined PepsiCo. In 2006, she became the CEO of PepsiCo. During her time, PepsiCo’s revenue rose from $2.7 billion to $6.5 billion. She has been listed in Wall Street journals as one of the 50 women to watch, alongside hundreds of the most influential people in the world, Forbe, the most powerful women, and Fortune, the most powerful women in business.
4. Jane Fraser
The final influential woman in business on our list is Jane Fraser. Jane Fraser was born on July 13, 1967, in Scotland. She completed her BA in economics in 1988. Jane is currently the CEO of Citigroup. She started her career at McKenzie and Company, working in financial services and global strategy. Later in 2004, she joined the city group. Eventually, in June 2009, she became the CEO of Citi Private Bank. In 2021, she became the CEO of Citigroup. She has been listed in Fortune’s 51 most powerful women in business, Forbes 50 over 50, etc.
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