Coming on Monday…more turmoil in the markets? Let’s hope not! Here’s one thing you can bet on: Fortune’s 2008 Most Powerful Women in Business list.
That’s right, we just sent it to the printer, and you should see it online Monday morning. You’ll see surprises. I can’t give too much away (the women who made the list are being called this afternoon with the news that they made Fortune’s rankings). But I can tell you that this year’s list includes a newcomer who is the youngest woman ever in the MPWomen’s 11-year history. (Guess!)
Overall, this year’s MPWomen list turned out to be more competitive than last year’s — indeed, than ever. Even as women have fallen off the ladder so visibly (on Wall Street most of all: Zoe Cruz at Morgan Stanley , Erin Callan at Lehman Brothers, Sallie Krawcheck at Citigroup , as I detailed Monday in “Behind Sallie Krawcheck’s exit at Citi“), the bar for making Fortune’s list rose to about $7 billion in revenues, the highest level ever. That’s a general threshold, not an automatic ticket in, since we examine the direction of the business and the arc of the woman’s career too.
So, even Fortune 500 CEOs can get bumped off the list. It happened this year, in fact, with a woman chief whose company generates $24 billion in sales, but has a stock-market capitalization of less than $1 billion — and a sinking stock to boot. Can you guess who?
Will PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi be No. 1 on the list for the third year in a row? To find out that answer and more, check Postcards — and CNNMoney.com and Fortune.com — on Monday to see the new list unveiled. This year’s MPWomen package, our strongest yet, includes a story that I wrote about Silicon Valley’s rising stars and their unique social network, which powers their businesses dealings and their careers. We also have an unprecedented volume of online content: career advice and other insights from the top women at eBay , Google , Yahoo , Facebook, and more.
One more bonus: Erin Callan talks for the first time since she left the CFO job at Lehman Brothers in June. Now that’s a Fortune exclusive!
