Makiko Ono

When Makiko Ono became CEO of Suntory Beverage and Food, the nonalcoholic drinks and foods unit of Suntory, in March 2023, she was the first woman to lead a Japanese company with a market cap of over 1 trillion yen ($7 billion). Since then, she's used her platform to advocate for more women to climb the ranks of Japanese business. "We are opening the door so that other young female workers can see more ahead," she told Fortune earlier this year. Ono's business‚ which makes drinks like Orangina and Ribena‚ is confronting higher raw material prices and a weak yen. It raised prices as a result but still reported a 9% increase in revenue and a 20% increase in profit in the first half of 2024, to $5.7 billion and $412 million, respectively.