• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

The millennial generation has split, new Fed research shows: Those over 35 are edging toward boomer-style wealth, while everyone else falls behind

2

The $39 trillion U.S. national debt isn’t as high as Japan’s and Singapore’s relative to economy size—and yet it's still worse somehow

3

Spain lifted the World Cup, but the IRS still gets a cut of its $50 million pay day as players, coaches and refs all face complex U.S. “jock taxes”

1

The millennial generation has split, new Fed research shows: Those over 35 are edging toward boomer-style wealth, while everyone else falls behind

2

The $39 trillion U.S. national debt isn’t as high as Japan’s and Singapore’s relative to economy size—and yet it's still worse somehow

3

Spain lifted the World Cup, but the IRS still gets a cut of its $50 million pay day as players, coaches and refs all face complex U.S. “jock taxes”
MPWFortune 500

The number of female CEOs in the Fortune 500 hits an all-time record

Emma Hinchliffe
By
Emma Hinchliffe
Emma Hinchliffe
Most Powerful Women Editor
Down Arrow Button Icon
Emma Hinchliffe
By
Emma Hinchliffe
Emma Hinchliffe
Most Powerful Women Editor
Down Arrow Button Icon
May 18, 2020, 7:15 AM ET
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

The number of women running America’s largest corporations has hit a new high: 37 of the companies on this year’s Fortune 500 are led by female CEOs.

The Fortune 500, which ranks America’s largest companies, has long been seen as a microcosm of U.S. business at large. For that reason, the number of female chief executives on the list is closely watched statistic among those who track gender diversity in board rooms and C-suites across the country.

This year’s tally soundly beats last year’s 33, which was itself a new record. Yet the big picture is less encouraging: even with a record 37 female CEOs, women run just 7.4% of the 500 businesses on the ranking. (For perspective: Twenty years ago, women ran two.) Only in the past four years has the growth of women in these roles accelerated past 30—a general upwards trend, though there have been dips along the way.

The number of women running Fortune 500 companies is influenced by several factors, including executive leadership changes and companies either growing to make the list for the first time, or shrinking to fall off of it. So while the ever-vacillating number is not a scientific assessment of the state of women in American business, it does provide a useful snapshot.

Some of this year’s new additions arrived on the list after taking over Fortune 500 companies from male predecessors in the past year. Carol Tomé, a longtime Home Depot executive, will begin her run as CEO of UPS on June 1. Heyward Donigan, a veteran health care executive, became CEO of Rite Aid in August 2019—in time to keep the drug store running through the pressures of the coronavirus pandemic. After Gap Inc. scuttled a plan to spin off Old Navy into what would have been a standalone Fortune 500 company, Sonia Syngal, who had been tapped to run that business, was instead promoted to run the entire corporation. Kristin C. Peck became chief executive of the $6.3 billion animal health company Zoetis in January. And Jennifer Johnson took over her family business, the $5.8 billion investment manager Franklin Resources, from her brother in February.

Some women among the group of 37 are leaders of companies that broke into the Fortune 500 for the first time this year (the revenue threshold for a company to make the list was $5.7 billion). That group includes Barbara R. Smith, the CEO of $5.8 billion materials business Commercial Metals, and Nazzic S. Keene, CEO of the $6.4 billion government information technology company Science Applications International.

Within the ranks of the 37 women who make up this list, a longstanding problem persists: there is starkly little racial diversity. Only three of the 37 are women of color: Gap Inc.’s Syngal, Advanced Micro Devices CEO Lisa Su, and Yum China CEO Joey Wat.

Not one of the 500 companies on the list has a black woman at the helm. That’s a drop-off from last year, when Mary Winston, interim CEO of Bed, Bath, and Beyond, was the only black woman among these chief executives; she has since been replaced with a permanent CEO. No Latinas are in these roles either. (Past black and Latina Fortune 500 female chiefs include former Xerox CEO Ursula Burns and former PG&E CEO Geisha Williams.)

There are some familiar names missing from the list of female Fortune 500 chiefs this year. Eight-year IBM CEO Ginni Rometty stepped down in April; she is now serving as chairman through the end of 2020. As of June 15, Marillyn Hewson will no longer be CEO of Lockheed Martin; when she assumed the job in 2013, she became the first woman to run America’s biggest defense contractor. KeyCorp CEO Beth Mooney left her role of nearly a decade in May, while Melisa Miller lasted just five months as chief executive of $6.6 billion Alliance Data Systems.

Other changes of note in the past year include Safra Catz’s leadership at Oracle; she is now the sole CEO of the company after the death of her co-CEO Mark Hurd. At AutoNation, the country’s largest dealership chain, CEO Cheryl Miller is on a health-related leave of absence but is still included in this tally. And Judy Marks is the CEO of $13 billion Otis Elevator, but a technicality prevents her from being included in this group. Otis spun off from Raytheon Technologies in April, a development not considered for this year’s Fortune 500, which is based on the 2019 fiscal year; if Marks is still in charge of the new standalone company when it is expected to make the Fortune 500 this time next year, she will be added to the list.

While the overall picture—that women run 7.4% of the businesses on the Fortune 500—is significant, there are some more micro trends worth noting. Many of these women leaders are concentrated at the bottom of the Fortune 500, where the companies are smaller. Only seven women run Fortune 100 companies; Mary Barra, CEO of the $137 billion auto giant General Motors, runs the largest. Several female CEOs are concentrated in retail, from Corie Barry’s Best Buy to Barbara Rentler’s Ross Stores to Laura Alber’s Williams-Sonoma, while female leadership among the Fortune 500’s tech companies remains rare.

About the Author
Emma Hinchliffe
By Emma HinchliffeMost Powerful Women Editor
LinkedIn iconTwitter icon

Emma Hinchliffe is Fortune’s Most Powerful Women editor, overseeing editorial for the longstanding franchise. As a senior writer at Fortune, Emma has covered women in business and gender-lens news across business, politics, and culture. She is the lead author of the Most Powerful Women Daily newsletter (formerly the Broadsheet), Fortune’s daily missive for and about the women leading the business world.

See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in MPW

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • TikTok icon
  • YouTube icon

Latest in MPW

Inside Flavor Flav’s unlikely effort to help female Olympians build their brands and careers
NewslettersMPW Daily
Inside Flavor Flav’s unlikely effort to help female Olympians build their brands and careers
By Ellie AustinJuly 22, 2026
2 days ago
Anthea Hartig, Director of the National Museum of American History, looks to her left at a House Committee.
PoliticsWhite House
Smithsonian director denies ‘woke’ label from Trump while defending exhibit on teen’s gender-identity diary
By Steven Sloan and The Associated PressJuly 21, 2026
3 days ago
Cleveland’s WNBA team doesn’t play until 2028 but Progressive just scored jersey sponsorship
SuccessSports
Cleveland’s WNBA team doesn’t play until 2028 but Progressive just scored jersey sponsorship
By Joe Reedy and The Associated PressJuly 21, 2026
3 days ago
jd
PoliticsWhite House
JD Vance becomes first sitting vice president to welcome a child in office in over 150 years
By Darlene Superville and The Associated PressJuly 20, 2026
4 days ago
Backed by Daymond John and Post Malone, this Afghan-born founder built a $150M brand. Her real mission: the women back home
Successfemale founders
Backed by Daymond John and Post Malone, this Afghan-born founder built a $150M brand. Her real mission: the women back home
By Sydney LakeJuly 20, 2026
4 days ago
t
PoliticsWhite House
Analysis: Trump approves 80% of GOP disaster aid — and 60% for Democrats
By David A. Lieb, M.K. Wildeman and The Associated PressJuly 16, 2026
8 days ago

Most Popular

The millennial generation has split, new Fed research shows: Those over 35 are edging toward boomer-style wealth, while everyone else falls behind
Real Estate
The millennial generation has split, new Fed research shows: Those over 35 are edging toward boomer-style wealth, while everyone else falls behind
By Nick LichtenbergJuly 22, 2026
2 days ago
The $39 trillion U.S. national debt isn’t as high as Japan’s and Singapore’s relative to economy size—and yet it's still worse somehow
Economy
The $39 trillion U.S. national debt isn’t as high as Japan’s and Singapore’s relative to economy size—and yet it's still worse somehow
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 23, 2026
22 hours ago
Spain lifted the World Cup, but the IRS still gets a cut of its $50 million pay day as players, coaches and refs all face complex U.S. “jock taxes”
Personal Finance
Spain lifted the World Cup, but the IRS still gets a cut of its $50 million pay day as players, coaches and refs all face complex U.S. “jock taxes”
By Joshua HongJuly 23, 2026
1 day ago
Jensen Huang made his $172 billion fortune on AI chips. His family's $75 million gift to Vanderbilt argues art decides what technology is for
Big Tech
Jensen Huang made his $172 billion fortune on AI chips. His family's $75 million gift to Vanderbilt argues art decides what technology is for
By Sydney LakeJuly 23, 2026
1 day ago
Current price of oil as of July 23, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of July 23, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJuly 23, 2026
1 day ago
Scott Bessent casually says the U.S. has more than $1 trillion in gold—and that it doesn’t matter for the dollar
Economy
Scott Bessent casually says the U.S. has more than $1 trillion in gold—and that it doesn’t matter for the dollar
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 22, 2026
2 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.