Now in its 29th year, the ranking highlights the leaders commanding boardrooms, markets, and industries. And for the first time since 2024, we have a new No. 1.

Citigroup chair and CEO Jane Fraser has ascended to the top spot, five years after she got Citi’s corner office. Fraser broke Wall Street’s glass ceiling when she became the first woman CEO of a major bank in 2021. Her rise exemplifies how this list tracks not just who has an impressive title, but what they are doing with it—with hard business metrics to back that up. (Last year’s No. 1, GM chief Mary Barra, is at No. 2 this year.)

The women on this list are leaders at 94 companies with a combined 11.8 million employees and $7.3 trillion in annual revenue. They hold 180 board seats and work across 20 countries and territories. (Behind the U.S., the countries with the highest number of Most Powerful Women listees are China, with nine, and France and the U.K., with six each.)

The tech and finance industries dominate, but women are breaking through in other sectors, too—among them BP’s Meg O’Neill (No. 16), Big Oil’s first female CEO, and Latriece Watkins (No. 87), the new CEO of Sam’s Club. We chose these executives based on the size and health of their businesses or P&Ls, measured by both 12-month and three-year financial data. Plus, we evaluated their influence, innovation, career trajectories, and efforts to make business better.

Our 2026 list brought some striking trends into focus. The rise of women in AI is undeniable, exemplified by Fidji Simo (No. 28), who has an expansive role at OpenAI as CEO of AGI deployment.

And take a close look at the CFOs on this ranking: Nearly every major player in AI has a female CFO leading its finance operations. These women—from Sarah Friar at OpenAI (No. 90) to Amy Hood at Microsoft (No. 38)—are making spending decisions that will determine the future of their companies, this technology, and even the global economy.

We have features about several of these women (like Dina Powell McCormick, now at Meta and No. 58 on the list, and Watkins at Sam’s Club)—stay tuned over the next few days for more. Explore the full list here and follow along on social for more takeaways!

Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com

The Most Powerful Women Daily newsletter is Fortune’s daily briefing for and about the women leading the business world. Subscribe here.

ALSO IN THE HEADLINES

Lululemon comes to an agreement with its founder. Chip Wilson gets to choose two directors for the retailer's board—in exchange, he agrees to stop his activist activities and sign an 18-month non-disparagement agreement. That gives incoming CEO Heidi O'Neill some breathing room as she starts in September. Former ESPN exec Laura Gentile is one of Wilson's board appointees. 

A new interview with Beth Ford. The Land O'Lakes CEO is No. 13 on today's new Most Powerful Women list. She tells the WSJ about her childhood, the crises facing farmers, and why she advocates for them through the toughest political challenges (as I explored in a feature for Fortune last year). "They’re wearing not just the financial stress, but generations of expenses and expectations," she says. 

Why did BP remove its chairman? The company's board was told that Albert Manifold was verbally abusive and bullying toward employees, and had mishandled company information, according to the WSJ. BP's new CEO, Meg O'Neill, is No. 16 on today's Most Powerful Women list. (Manifold oversaw her appointment.) 

Who will become a billionaire after SpaceX's IPO? COO Gwynne Shotwell (No. 32 on today's MPW list!) has a stake valued at about $1 billion at SpaceX's current valuation—and $2 billion at its $2 trillion IPO target. 

ON MY RADAR

Elise Stefanik cozied up to Trump. Where does she go next? Politico

A Lyft driver raped Cristen Giangarra. She’ll fight the app until justice is served The Cut

The next Lina Khan is your state attorney general Politico

PARTING WORDS

"It’s a story about a generation of leaders helping redefine the CFO role, and many of them happen to be women." 

— OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar telling Fortune about why so many hyperscalers have female CFOs