12 — Oops, 11 — Women at the Top of the Global 500

by Pamela Weinsaft (New York City)

Last week, Fortune named its Global 500 companies. This year, women lead 12 of those companies, an increase of 2 women over the prior year’s list.

Less than a week later, however, it was announced that Patricia Russo, CEO of Alcatel-Lucent and architect of the merger, will be stepping down by year’s end. Since the merger of Alcatel and Lucent in 2006, Russo has implemented a restructuring plan, which called for the firing of 12,500 workers. According to TheStreet.com, investors had been calling for Russo’s ouster since the merger, upset with the company’s performance and her pay package.

Several of the remaining eleven women on this list have been featured on The Glass Hammer for their vision and leadership. Indra Nooyi, CEO of PepsiCo, Carol M. Meyrowitz of TJX Companies, Inc., and Patricia Woertz of Archer Daniels Midland have also been included on numerous other “top” lists, including Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women, Top Female CEOs of 2007 and Business Week’s Top 50 All Star Performers.

Rounding out the list of women at the helm of Global 500 companies are:

(1) Angela F. Braly, President and CEO of WellPoint (#105), the leading health plan in the United States. An attorney by training, Ms. Braly served as the company’s General Counsel for several years before becoming CEO in 2007. That same year, Ms. Braly was named one of Forbes magazine’s “World’s Most Powerful Women” and was ranked #4 on Fortune magazine’s “50 Most Powerful Women” list.

(2) Cynthia Carroll, CEO of Anglo American (#266), a mining group headquartered in the UK, is the first non-South African to hold the CEO post with the company. Ms. Carroll started out in oil and gas, working all over the world as a petroleum geologist with Amoco. After earning an MBA from Harvard University in 1989, she joined Canadian-based Alcan and, over the course of 18 years, worked her way up to President and CEO of the Primary Metals Group. Ms Carroll sits on the executive boards of De Beers, Sara Lee Corporation and BP.

(3) Annika Falkengren, President and CEO of SkandEnskilbank (SEB) (#471), started as a trainee with the company after earning a Bachelor of Science degree from Stockholm University. She assumed the role of CEO in January 2006. It marked the first time in 150+ years that someone other than a member of the Wallenberg family was at the helm of SkanEnskilbank, as well as one of the few times SEB recruited internally for this position. Under Ms. Falkengren’s leadership, profits rose 39% to $2.1 billion in 2007.

(4) Gail P. Kelly, CEO of Westpac Banking (#402), the 4th largest Australian bank, became CEO in February of this year. Ms Kelly began her career at Nedcor Bank in South Africa. After migrating to Australia in 1997, Ms. Kelly spent over 10 years honing her skills at Commonwealth Bank and St. George, before leaving for the CEO position with Westpac. Ms. Kelly has been working to effectuate the proposed merger with St. George, her former company, to create Australia’s largest bank. She has also drawn media attention for her reorganization of the management team at Westpac to improve the company’s service standards, particularly in their relationships with smaller companies.

(5) Giulia Maria Ligresti, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of Premafin Finanziaria S.p.A. (#467), an Italy-based holding company with investments in the insurance, banking, financial, real estate and agricultural sectors. With Ms. Ligresti holding the reins, Premafin Finaziaria reported first quarter ’08 profits 6.69% greater than the previous year. In addition to her duties with Premafin, Ms, Ligresti sits on the executive board of several companies including Pirelli.

(6) Anne M. Mulcahy, the Chairman of the board and Chief Executive Officer of Xerox (#489), began her career with the company as a field sales representative, progressing to Vice President for Human Resources and Vice President for Customer Operations. She’s held the position of Chief Executive Officer since August 2001 and the additional role of Chairman since January 1, 2002. Under Ms. Mulcahy’s leadership, Xerox made a significant turnaround in 2004. In June of this year, she became the first woman to be named CEO of the year by her peers.

(7) Irene Rosenfeld, Chairman and CEO of Kraft Foods (#195), has been with Kraft for nearly 20 years, she’s been in the food and beverage industry for even longer. She worked as the head of Frito-Lay, PepsiCo snack division in 2004, but returned to Kraft when she was appointed CEO in June 2006. She’s working on revitalizing the company through job cuts, the sale of some consumer lines to other businesses and revamping some current products. Her name is consistently found on lists of the world’s most powerful women, including Fortune’s Power 50 and Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women.

(8) Mary F. Sammons, CEO of Rite Aid (#328), was brought in as Chief Executive in 1999 to save the drugstore chain from bankruptcy. By the beginning of 2004, she and other managers she had brought in turned the company around, posting a profit of $73.6 million for the third quarter of FY 2004. Rite Aid is now the 7th largest among all drug store chains, and now ranks 129th on the Fortune 500.

Gaining ground is one thing; maintaining it, it seems, is quite another. The Glass Hammer celebrates these women, and hopes that next year, we’ll have even more to celebrate.