Patricia Barbizet

In a year of change in the art world, Barbizet was appointed by Christie’s billionaire owner François Pinault to replace CEO Steven Murphy on December 2nd, 2014, making her the first female boss of the 249-year-old auction house. Since then she has set a new sales record at Christie’s, with revenue up 8% to $4.5 billion in the first half of this year. The 26-year group veteran—Barbizet is also CEO of Pinault's holding company Artémis, with $33 billion in assets, and vice-chair of his luxury empire, Kering (think Gucci)—is also working to diversify Artémis’ portfolio. Recent acquisitions include French luxury cruise-ship operator Ponant and luxury watchmaker Ulysse Nardin. She also holds seats on the boards of Total and Peugeot. —Rupali Arora