most powerful women international

Fortune Editors

Maria Aspan, Katherine Dunn, Erika Fry, Yvonne Lau, Sophie Mellor, and Claire Zillman.

Writers

Aaron Pressman

This ace engineer powered Amazon through the COVID crisis

Kristen Bellstrom

Beth Kowitt

How Fortune ranks business's Most Powerful Women in the COVID era

The holidays used to be UPS's busiest time. Then came COVID-19

Claire Zillman

How Jane Fraser broke banking’s highest glass ceiling

It’s been a turbulent year for women at the top of the world’s largest businesses. Whether navigating the challenges of the ongoing global pandemic, activist pressure campaigns, regulatory crackdowns, or the many other urgent forces reshaping the economy today, the leaders who appear on Fortune’s Most Powerful Women International list this year are very much in the thick of it. And that’s a good thing. <a href="https://fortune.com/franchise-list-page/mpw-international-2021/">Read more</a>

<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;Four years into her effort to remake [hotlink]GlaxoSmithKline[/hotlink], the storied but long languishing British pharmaceutical giant, Walmsley faces her biggest test yet: a campaign, made public in May by the aggressive and much feared activist hedge fund, Elliott Management, to unseat her. So far, the CEO, who has the backing of her board and major shareholders, is standing firm—and moving forward on a strategy to turn the company into a drug- and vaccine-developing powerhouse (and deliver 10% growth in operating profits in the next five years). Walmsley plans to fund that effort, in part, by spinning off the company’s $12.9 billion consumer division—a portfolio of brands including Sensodyne, Advil, and Theraflu—where she cut her teeth at GSK. Results for the $21.9 billion pharma business are mixed so far: Though GSK notched some new approvals for use of its oncology drug Jemperli earlier this year, it also pulled the plug on two of its most hyped investigational cancer drugs in late-stage development. Walmsley still has a pipeline full of potential drugs and high-profile R&amp;D partnerships to point to—like one with Crispr pioneer Jennifer Doudna’s company Mammoth Biosciences. GSK ranks first on the industry’s Access to Medicine Index, which measures drug affordability in low- and middle-income countries, and while late to the party, GSK’s three COVID vaccine candidates, not to mention its COVID antibody treatment that's currently authorized for emergency use in the U.S. and Europe, may yet benefit many. Walmsley, who sits on the [hotlink]Microsoft[/hotlink] board and was in 2020 appointed Dame Commander of the British Empire for her services to the pharmaceutical industry and business, also recently unveiled new climate commitments for GSK—for example, slashing the carbon footprint of its inhalers.&quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:15107,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:15389148},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:11}">Four years into her <a href="https://fortune.com/longform/gsk-glaxosmithkline-ceo-emma-walmsley/">effort</a> to remake <a href="https://fortune.com/company/glaxosmithkline/global500/">GlaxoSmithKline</a>, the storied but long languishing British pharmaceutical giant, Walmsley faces her biggest test yet: a campaign, made public in May by the aggressive and much feared activist hedge fund, Elliott Management, to unseat her. So far, the CEO, who has the backing of her board and major shareholders, is standing firm—and moving forward on a strategy to turn the company into a drug- and vaccine-developing powerhouse (and deliver 10% growth in operating profits in the next five years). Walmsley plans to fund that effort, in part, by spinning off the company’s $12.9 billion consumer division—a portfolio of brands including Sensodyne, Advil, and Theraflu—where she cut her teeth at GSK. Results for the $21.9 billion pharma business are mixed so far: Though GSK notched some new approvals for use of its oncology drug Jemperli earlier this year, it also pulled the plug on two of its most hyped investigational cancer drugs in late-stage development. Walmsley still has a pipeline full of potential drugs and high-profile R&amp;D partnerships to point to—like one with Crispr pioneer Jennifer Doudna’s company Mammoth Biosciences. GSK <a href="https://accesstomedicinefoundation.org/publications/2021-access-to-medicine-index">ranks</a> first on the industry’s Access to Medicine Index, which measures drug affordability in low- and middle-income countries, and while late to the party, the three COVID vaccine candidates GSK is working on, not to mention its COVID antibody treatment, currently authorized for emergency use in the U.S. and Europe, may yet benefit many. Walmsley, who sits on the Microsoft board and was in 2020 appointed Dame Commander of the British Empire for her services to the pharmaceutical industry and business, also recently unveiled new climate commitments for GSK—for example, slashing the carbon footprint of its inhalers.

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Emma Walmsley

<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;Ping An, the $192 billion insurance and technology giant co-led by Tan, a [hotlink]McKinsey[/hotlink] alum, was a darling of the pandemic’s early days. In 2020, nearly 1 million people used its Good Doctor telehealth app every day as COVID fears kept patients from visiting hospitals and doctors’ offices. The service earned $1 billion in revenue for the company in 2020, up 36% year on year. In the first half of 2021, Good Doctor retained its hot streak, raking in nearly $600 million in revenue, a 39% increase from the year prior, and hitting 400 million registered users. With COVID in China contained but still looming, Tan must now navigate two new two tsunamis hitting the mainland—and Ping An’s business: possible contagion from indebted real estate developers and Beijing’s regulatory crackdown. An impairment Ping An took in the first half of 2021 for its investment in troubled China Fortune Land Development shaved $3.2 billion off profits, which dropped profits 16% for the period, and its stock tumbled roughly 40% between January and October 2021 as investors feared a government crackdown on the insurance industry.&quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:15107,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:15389148},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:11}">Ping An, the $192 billion insurance and technology giant co-led by Tan, a McKinsey alum, was a darling of the pandemic’s early days. In 2020, nearly 1 million people used its Good Doctor telehealth app every day as COVID fears kept patients from visiting hospitals and doctors’ offices. The service earned $1 billion in revenue for the company in 2020, up 36% year on year. In the first half of 2021, Good Doctor retained its hot streak, raking in nearly $600 million in revenue, a 39% increase from the year prior, and hitting 400 million registered users. With COVID in China contained but still looming, Tan must now navigate two new two tsunamis hitting the mainland—and Ping An’s business: possible contagion from indebted real estate developers and Beijing’s regulatory crackdown. An impairment Ping An took in the first half of 2021 for its investment in troubled China Fortune Land Development shaved $3.2 billion off profits, which dropped profits 16% for the period, and its stock tumbled roughly 40% between January and October 2021 as investors feared a government crackdown on the insurance industry.
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Jessica Tan

<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;After presiding over the first annual loss in Banco Santander’s 164-year history last year, Ana Botín is leading her company back to growth mode. The Spanish bank swung to a profit of 3.68 billion euros ($4.3 billion) in the first half of 2021, as its U.S. and European consumer businesses recovered from the pandemic’s economic downturn, and Botín says Santander is on track to exceed its profitability target for the year. She’s also expanding the company’s lines of business beyond its retail-banking bread and butter: In the past year, Santander has purchased a U.S. fixed-income broker; and is scaling up its investment banking and payments operations. The bank has also increased its commitments to renewable energy and climate-friendlier financing over the past year: In February, Santander said it would stop financing energy clients with more than 10% of their revenues from coal by 2030 and would achieve net-zero carbon emissions across its clients by 2050. &quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:15107,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:15389148},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:11}">After presiding over the first annual loss in Banco Santander’s 164-year history last year, Ana Botín is leading her company back to growth mode. The Spanish bank swung to a profit of 3.68 billion euros ($4.3 billion) in the first half of 2021, as its U.S. and European consumer businesses recovered from the pandemic’s economic downturn, and Botín says Santander is on track to exceed its profitability target for the year. She’s also expanding the company’s lines of business beyond its retail-banking bread and butter: In the past year, Santander has purchased a U.S. fixed-income broker; and is scaling up its investment banking and payments operations. The bank has also increased its commitments to renewable energy and climate-friendlier financing over the past year: In February, Santander said it would stop financing energy clients with more than 10% of their revenues from coal by 2030 and would achieve net-zero carbon emissions across its clients by 2050. 

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Ana Botín

<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;From her perch leading Macquarie, the global financial services firm that is one of the world’s major infrastructure managers, Wikramanayake is working to mobilize private capital for climate solutions and reshape the built world. Since taking charge of the Australian-headquartered bank in late 2018, the CEO has emerged as one of the business world’s most vocal and engaged leaders on climate change, willing to tackle the critical if tedious nitty-gritty involved in transitioning to a low-carbon economy. She serves on a roster of influential committees—for example, she was recently appointed cochair of the Climate Finance Leadership Initiative in India—seeking to drive increased investment in climate adaptation and mitigation efforts around the world. She also recently led Macquarie’s business to a banner year, as the firm reported record profits for the fiscal year ending March 2021, up 10% over the previous year.&quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:1063683,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:15389148},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:11,&quot;23&quot;:1}" data-sheets-textstyleruns="{&quot;1&quot;:0}{&quot;1&quot;:547,&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:1136076},&quot;9&quot;:1}}{&quot;1&quot;:557}" data-sheets-hyperlinkruns="{&quot;1&quot;:547,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;https://gca.org/about-us/the-global-commission-on-adaptation/&quot;}{&quot;1&quot;:557}">From her perch leading Macquarie, the global financial services firm that is one of the world’s major infrastructure managers, Wikramanayake is working to mobilize private capital for climate solutions and reshape the built world. Since taking charge of the Australian-headquartered bank in late 2018, the CEO has emerged as one of the business world’s most vocal and engaged leaders on climate change, willing to tackle the critical if tedious nitty-gritty involved in transitioning to a low-carbon economy. She serves on a roster of influential <a class="in-cell-link" href="https://gca.org/about-us/the-global-commission-on-adaptation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">committees</a>—for example, she was recently appointed cochair of the Climate Finance Leadership Initiative in India—seeking to drive increased investment in climate adaptation and mitigation efforts around the world. She also recently led Macquarie’s business to a banner year, as the firm reported record profits for the fiscal year ending March 2021, up 10% over the previous year.

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Shemara Wikramanayake

<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;In her first year as CEO of the giant French power company, MacGregor, an oil and gas industry veteran, focused on simplifying the $63.5 billion group—and rebuilding its future around clean energy. The journey is in its early stages, but MacGregor has announced her intention to sell off more than $10 billion in assets to further the company’s drive into renewables (an interest of her ousted predecessor, Isabelle Kocher, as well). She’s also restructuring the company, so rather than 25 business units, it has four; she’s exited four of the more than 50 countries where [hotlink]Engie[/hotlink] does business, but plans to be in fewer than 30 by 2023. For now, Engie still makes most of its money in gas, and that business has improved with the economic recovery from COVID and a cold winter in Europe. In the first half of 2021, revenues increased 13.9% over the previous year.&quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:1063683,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:15389148},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:11,&quot;23&quot;:1}" data-sheets-textstyleruns="{&quot;1&quot;:0}{&quot;1&quot;:131,&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:1136076},&quot;9&quot;:1}}{&quot;1&quot;:150}" data-sheets-hyperlinkruns="{&quot;1&quot;:131,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;https://fortune.com/company/engie/global500/&quot;}{&quot;1&quot;:150}">In her first year as CEO of the giant French power company, MacGregor, an oil and gas industry veteran, focused on simplifying the <a class="in-cell-link" href="https://fortune.com/company/engie/global500/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$63.5 billion group</a>—and rebuilding its future around clean energy. The journey is in its early stages, but MacGregor has announced her intention to sell off more than $10 billion in assets to further the company’s drive into renewables (an interest of her ousted predecessor, Isabelle Kocher, as well). She’s also restructuring the company, so rather than 25 business units, it has four; she’s exited four of the more than 50 countries where Engie does business, but plans to be in fewer than 30 by 2023. For now, Engie still makes most of its money in gas, and that business has improved with the economic recovery from COVID and a cold winter in Europe. In the first half of 2021, revenues increased 13.9% over the previous year.

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Catherine MacGregor

<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;Belén Garijo was promoted to CEO at German pharma company [hotlink]Merck[/hotlink] KGaA in March 2021, making her the first woman to solely run a company listed on Germany’s DAX 30 index. In her first three months as CEO and chair, the $30 billion Darmstadt, Germany–based company recorded €4.8 billion ($5.5 billion) in net sales—a year-on-year jump of 18%. In the last year, Garijo announced Merck would be increasing its investments by 50% between 2021 and 2025 to build out its semiconductor and process solutions businesses and roll out new products from its health care unit in order to reach a new target of €25 billion ($29 billion) in net sales by 2025. On track so far, Merck’s sales increased by 11.9% over the first half of 2021, compared with the same period in 2020, and Merck’s shares have increased by 48% since Garijo took over as CEO. Merck’s health care unit, which Garijo led before becoming CEO, performed well during the pandemic owing to a sharpened focus on difficult-to-treat diseases in oncology and immunology. Alongside strong sales from lab gear used to treat COVID-19, Merck also managed to raise its second-half outlook for 2021. &quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:15107,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:13624051},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:11}">Belén Garijo was promoted to CEO at German pharma company Merck KGaA in March 2021, making her the first woman to solely run a company listed on Germany’s DAX 30 index. In her first three months as CEO and chair, the $30 billion Darmstadt, Germany–based company recorded €4.8 billion ($5.5 billion) in net sales—a year-on-year jump of 18%. In the last year, Garijo announced Merck would be increasing its investments by 50% between 2021 and 2025 to build out its semiconductor and process solutions businesses and roll out new products from its health care unit in order to reach a new target of €25 billion ($29 billion) in net sales by 2025. On track so far, Merck’s sales increased by 11.9% over the first half of 2021, compared with the same period in 2020, and Merck’s shares have increased by 48% since Garijo took over as CEO. Merck’s health care unit, which Garijo led before becoming CEO, performed well during the pandemic owing to a sharpened focus on difficult-to-treat diseases in oncology and immunology. Alongside strong sales from lab gear used to treat COVID-19, Merck also managed to raise its second-half outlook for 2021. 

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Belén Garijo

<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;Electric-appliances maker Gree had a tough 2020, but showed signs of renewal in 2021 as the company inked new partnerships and continued to invest in new technologies. After recording a 15% drop in revenue and 10% dip in profit in 2020, Gree’s revenue jumped 30% to $14 billion and profit rose nearly 48% to $1.5 billion year on year in the first six months of 2021. The shuttering of physical stores in 2020 galvanized Dong, known as China’s “home appliances queen,” to focus on Gree’s digital efforts. Gree recently signed a deal with Huawei to install the mobile firm’s HarmonyOS operating system in its smart-home appliances, and Gree plans to launch new products via [hotlink]Amazon[/hotlink] this year. In recent years, Gree has also ramped up R&amp;D efforts in its smart equipment, semiconductor, and medical equipment business segments. This April, Gree air conditioning technology that runs on renewable energy won the Global Cooling Prize, jointly awarded by the Indian government and sustainability think tank Rocky Mountain Institute.&quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:15107,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:15389148},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Calibri, sans-serif&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:11}">Electric-appliances maker Gree had a tough 2020, but showed signs of renewal in 2021 as the company inked new partnerships and continued to invest in new technologies. After recording a 15% drop in revenue and 10% dip in profit in 2020, Gree’s revenue jumped 30% to $14 billion and profit rose nearly 48% to $1.5 billion year on year in the first six months of 2021. The shuttering of physical stores in 2020 galvanized Dong, known as China’s “home appliances queen,” to focus on Gree’s digital efforts. Gree recently signed a deal with Huawei to install the mobile firm’s HarmonyOS operating system in its smart-home appliances, and Gree plans to launch new products via Amazon this year. In recent years, Gree has also ramped up R&amp;D efforts in its smart equipment, semiconductor, and medical equipment business segments. This April, Gree air conditioning technology that runs on renewable energy won the Global Cooling Prize, jointly awarded by the Indian government and sustainability think tank Rocky Mountain Institute.

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Dong Mingzhu

<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;It took Blanc only a month to announce her strategy when she took over the $62.6 billon U.K.-based insurer in July 2020. It has also taken her impressively little time to execute her plan to refocus the business on its three core markets of Canada, Ireland, and the U.K. That meant getting out of a lot of places, and she has—selling eight businesses, including the company’s French, Italian, Polish and Turkish for a total of $10.6 billion. She has promised to return much of that value—at least $5.4 billion—to shareholders by mid-2022, while also staying focused on cutting costs. That quick work hasn’t kept the activist fund, Cevian Capital, which now holds a 5.02% stake in [hotlink]Aviva[/hotlink], from demanding more. Blanc, who has been vocal about the need for her industry to catch up to climate change, is also moving her company aggressively on that front. Earlier this year the company’s investment arm threatened to divest holdings in 30 carbon-intensive companies if they don’t change their ways.&quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:1063683,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:15389148},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:11,&quot;23&quot;:1}" data-sheets-textstyleruns="{&quot;1&quot;:0}{&quot;1&quot;:88,&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:1136076},&quot;9&quot;:1}}{&quot;1&quot;:106}{&quot;1&quot;:805,&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:1136076},&quot;9&quot;:1}}{&quot;1&quot;:811}{&quot;1&quot;:899,&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:1136076},&quot;9&quot;:1}}{&quot;1&quot;:909}" data-sheets-hyperlinkruns="{&quot;1&quot;:88,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;https://fortune.com/company/aviva/global500/&quot;}{&quot;1&quot;:106}{&quot;1&quot;:805,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;https://www.aviva.com/newsroom/perspectives/2021/03/taking-climate-action/&quot;}{&quot;1&quot;:811}{&quot;1&quot;:899,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;https://www.avivainvestors.com/en-gb/about/company-news/2021/02/aviva-Investors-climate-transition-engagement-programme/&quot;}{&quot;1&quot;:909}">It took Blanc only a month to announce her strategy when she took over the $62.6 billon <a class="in-cell-link" href="https://fortune.com/company/aviva/global500/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">U.K.-based insurer</a> in July 2020. It has also taken her impressively little time to execute her plan to refocus the business on its three core markets of Canada, Ireland, and the U.K. That meant getting out of a lot of places, and she has—selling eight businesses, including the company’s French, Italian, Polish and Turkish for a total of $10.6 billion. She has promised to return much of that value—at least $5.4 billion—to shareholders by mid-2022, while also staying focused on cutting costs. That quick work hasn’t kept the activist fund, Cevian Capital, which now holds a 5.02% stake in Aviva, from demanding more. Blanc, who has been vocal about the need for her industry to catch up to climate change, is also <a class="in-cell-link" href="https://www.aviva.com/newsroom/perspectives/2021/03/taking-climate-action/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">moving</a> her company aggressively on that front. Earlier this year the company’s investment arm <a class="in-cell-link" href="https://www.avivainvestors.com/en-gb/about/company-news/2021/02/aviva-Investors-climate-transition-engagement-programme/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">threatened</a> to divest holdings in 30 carbon-intensive companies if they don’t change their ways.

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Amanda Blanc

<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;It’s been a tumultuous year for Helmersson, CEO of fashion behemoth H&amp;M Group. After global profits dropped by 17% in 2020, the group started 2021 with more than a third of its total stores closed as a result of the pandemic. But by midyear, most had reopened, bringing back footfall and helping sales in local currencies jump 75% from the previous year, while online sales also jumped sharply. Meanwhile, the efforts Helmersson, previously the group’s one-time chief of sustainability, made to push the business toward renewable materials has paid off as concerns over the climate impact of the fashion industry have deepened. But geopolitics, too, made this year rocky: A statement about H&amp;M’s concern over reports of forced labor in Xinjiang drew swift backlash in China. E-commerce sites in the country dropped its brands, while many of its stores were closed in the region, denting its growth there. &quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:15107,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:15389148},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:11}">It’s been a tumultuous year for Helmersson, CEO of fashion behemoth H&amp;M Group. After global profits dropped by 17% in 2020, the group started 2021 with more than a third of its total stores closed as a result of the pandemic. But by midyear, most had reopened, bringing back footfall and helping sales in local currencies jump 75% from the previous year, while online sales also jumped sharply. Meanwhile, the efforts Helmersson, the group’s one-time chief of sustainability, made to push the business toward renewable materials has paid off as concerns over the climate impact of the fashion industry have deepened. But geopolitics, too, made this year rocky: A statement about H&amp;M’s concern over reports of forced labor in Xinjiang drew swift backlash in China. E-commerce sites in the country dropped its brands, while many of its stores were closed in the region, denting its growth there. 

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Helena Helmersson

<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;Merz is in her second year trying to steer Thyssenkrupp, the long-ailing German industrial conglomerate, back to health. Since the dire days of October 2019, when she went from supervisory board member to interim chief (she got the job officially six months later)—and became the third CEO in 16 months—she’s pressed ahead with a swift and radical restructuring, selling off the company’s profitable elevator unit in 2020 and off-loading its mining and infrastructure businesses and an Italian stainless steel mill this year. She’s cut thousands of jobs and vows the portfolio cleanup will continue. The streamlining effort, combined with increased demand across its businesses has Thyssenkrupp's numbers moving in the right direction, though the company, which had $39.7 billion in revenue last year, still expects to post a net loss for the year due to restructuring costs. Merz, who serves on the [hotlink]Volvo[/hotlink] and SAF-Holland boards, is also pushing Thyssenkrupp to less carbon-intensive forms of production (i.e., hydrogen)—though that will be a long journey, and the conglomerate is aiming to spin off its steel unit next year.&quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:1063683,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:15389148},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:11,&quot;23&quot;:1}" data-sheets-textstyleruns="{&quot;1&quot;:0}{&quot;1&quot;:158,&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:1136076},&quot;9&quot;:1}}{&quot;1&quot;:172}{&quot;1&quot;:247,&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:1136076},&quot;9&quot;:1}}{&quot;1&quot;:263}{&quot;1&quot;:766,&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:1136076},&quot;9&quot;:1}}{&quot;1&quot;:800}{&quot;1&quot;:808,&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:1136076},&quot;9&quot;:1}}{&quot;1&quot;:815}{&quot;1&quot;:933,&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:1136076},&quot;9&quot;:1}}{&quot;1&quot;:945}{&quot;1&quot;:1115,&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:1136076},&quot;9&quot;:1}}{&quot;1&quot;:1124}" data-sheets-hyperlinkruns="{&quot;1&quot;:158,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;https://www.economist.com/business/2019/10/02/martina-merz-takes-over-at-struggling-thyssenkrupp&quot;}{&quot;1&quot;:172}{&quot;1&quot;:247,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;https://www.thyssenkrupp.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/disclosure-of-an-inside-information-according-to-article-17-mar--merz-remains-chief-executive-officer-of-thyssenkrupp-ag-19904.html&quot;}{&quot;1&quot;:263}{&quot;1&quot;:766,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;https://fortune.com/company/thyssenkrupp/global500/&quot;}{&quot;1&quot;:800}{&quot;1&quot;:808,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;https://ucpcdn.thyssenkrupp.com/_binary/UCPthyssenkruppAG/en/investors/reporting-and-publications/press-release_9_months_2020_2021.pdf&quot;}{&quot;1&quot;:815}{&quot;1&quot;:933,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;https://www.reuters.com/article/thyssenkrupp-steel-hydrogen/thyssenkrupp-presents-plan-for-carbon-neutral-steel-plant-idUSL8N2FU1JN&quot;}{&quot;1&quot;:945}{&quot;1&quot;:1115,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;https://www.ft.com/content/63383860-445e-43a1-a117-19edb4571880&quot;}{&quot;1&quot;:1124}">Merz is in her second year trying to steer Thyssenkrupp, the long-ailing German industrial conglomerate, back to health. Since the dire days of October 2019, <a class="in-cell-link" href="https://www.economist.com/business/2019/10/02/martina-merz-takes-over-at-struggling-thyssenkrupp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">when she went </a>from supervisory board member to interim chief (she got the job officially <a class="in-cell-link" href="https://www.thyssenkrupp.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/disclosure-of-an-inside-information-according-to-article-17-mar--merz-remains-chief-executive-officer-of-thyssenkrupp-ag-19904.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">six months later</a>)—and became the third CEO in 16 months—she’s pressed ahead with a swift and radical restructuring, selling off the company’s profitable elevator unit in 2020 and off-loading its mining and infrastructure businesses and an Italian stainless steel mill this year. She’s cut thousands of jobs and vows the portfolio cleanup will continue. The streamlining effort, combined with increased demand across its businesses has Thyssenkrupp's numbers moving in the right direction, though the company, which had <a class="in-cell-link" href="https://fortune.com/company/thyssenkrupp/global500/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$39.7 billion in revenue last year</a>, still <a class="in-cell-link" href="https://ucpcdn.thyssenkrupp.com/_binary/UCPthyssenkruppAG/en/investors/reporting-and-publications/press-release_9_months_2020_2021.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">expects</a> to post a net loss for the year due to restructuring costs. Merz, who serves on the Volvo and SAF-Holland boards, is <a class="in-cell-link" href="https://www.reuters.com/article/thyssenkrupp-steel-hydrogen/thyssenkrupp-presents-plan-for-carbon-neutral-steel-plant-idUSL8N2FU1JN" target="_blank" rel="noopener">also pushing</a> Thyssenkrupp to less carbon-intensive forms of production (i.e., hydrogen)—though that will be a long journey, and the conglomerate is aiming to spin off its steel unit <a class="in-cell-link" href="https://www.ft.com/content/63383860-445e-43a1-a117-19edb4571880" target="_blank" rel="noopener">next year</a>.

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Martina Merz

<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;Ge Mahe oversees Apple’s Greater China region, the company’s third-largest geographic division behind the Americas and Europe. It was the only region to post a sales decline in 2020. Earnings shrank 8% to $40.3 billion owing to weak iPhone sales, but the iPhone 12 family, released in October 2020, is going gangbusters in the region, thanks in part to pent-up demand for the devices’ 5G technology, a feature that’s new to iPhones but already carried by many of Apple’s Chinese competitors. [hotlink]Apple[/hotlink] recorded its best-ever June quarter in Greater China in 2021, with sales surging nearly 60% to roughly $14.8 billion. Based on social media activity, Chinese consumers already seem enamored with the iPhone 13, announced in September, because of its relatively low price point, but Apple still faces fierce competition in the region from domestic smartphone brands, especially amid Beijing’s nationalist push.&quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:15107,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:15389148},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:11}">Ge Mahe oversees Apple’s Greater China region, the company’s third-largest geographic division behind the Americas and Europe. It was the only region to post a sales decline in 2020. Earnings shrank 8% to $40.3 billion owing to weak iPhone sales, but the iPhone 12 family, released in October 2020, is going gangbusters in the region, thanks in part to pent-up demand for the devices’ 5G technology, a feature that’s new to iPhones but already carried by many of Apple’s Chinese competitors. Apple recorded its best-ever June quarter in Greater China in 2021, with sales surging nearly 60% to roughly $14.8 billion. Based on social media activity, Chinese consumers already seem enamored with the iPhone 13, announced in September, because of its relatively low price point, but Apple still faces fierce competition in the region from domestic smartphone brands, especially amid Beijing’s nationalist push.

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Isabel Ge Mahe

<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;In her first year as CEO of U.K.’s NatWest Group—one of Britain’s top four banks—Alison Rose faced COVID-19 business challenges and the ongoing task of disentangling the lender from a contentious legacy involving its mistreatment of small-business customers after the 2008 financial crisis. In 2020, the bank suffered a $471 million operating loss, mainly because of provisions taken to cover a surge in bad loans. At the same time, the lender grew in key areas like mortgages and commercial lending. In the first half of 2021, Rose led NatWest’s return to profitability—the bank recorded a pretax profit of $3.4 billion, compared to a $1 billion loss for the same period last year. Under Rose’s leadership, NatWest in 2020 provided $16.2 billion in funding for climate and sustainable finance related initiatives; $2.7 billion in funding for female entrepreneurs; and $8.1 billion in support for small- and medium-size businesses. NatWest this February also issued a $1.2 billion affordable housing social bond—the first of its kind by a U.K. bank—as part of a promise to provide $3 billion to the affordable housing sector by the end of 2022. &quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:15107,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:15389148},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:11}">In her first year as CEO of U.K.’s NatWest Group—one of Britain’s top four banks—Alison Rose faced COVID-19 business challenges and the ongoing task of disentangling the lender from a contentious legacy involving its mistreatment of small-business customers after the 2008 financial crisis. In 2020, the bank suffered a $471 million operating loss, mainly because of provisions taken to cover a surge in bad loans. At the same time, the lender grew in key areas like mortgages and commercial lending. In the first half of 2021, Rose led NatWest’s return to profitability—the bank recorded a pretax profit of $3.4 billion, compared to a $1 billion loss for the same period last year. Under Rose’s leadership, NatWest in 2020 provided $16.2 billion in funding for climate and sustainable finance related initiatives; $2.7 billion in funding for female entrepreneurs; and $8.1 billion in support for small- and medium-size businesses. NatWest this February also issued a $1.2 billion affordable housing social bond—the first of its kind by a U.K. bank—as part of a promise to provide $3 billion to the affordable housing sector by the end of 2022. 

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Alison Rose

<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;Perhaps no company has borne the brunt of China’s regulatory campaign more than Alibaba, the $106 billion e-commerce giant. Beijing scuttled the IPO of its payment affiliate Ant Group in November 2020 after Alibaba cofounder Jack Ma publicly criticized the nation’s regulators. In April, Beijing slapped Alibaba with a record $2.8 billion fine for antitrust violations that saddled the company with its first quarterly loss since going public in 2014. So while Alibaba’s underlying business chugs along—it posted a 34% increase in revenue in the quarter ended June 2021—the crackdown looms over the tech giant. As of early October, its NYSE-listed shares were down nearly 40% for the year. Another lurking threat is competition from smaller e-commerce rivals like [hotlink]Pinduoduo[/hotlink]. In May, Wu, who replaced Ma as an Alibaba director in 2020, said the company would invest any profits that surpassed the previous year’s total into supporting merchants and penetrating new markets.&quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:15107,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:15389148},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:11}">Perhaps no company has borne the brunt of China’s regulatory campaign more than Alibaba, the $106 billion e-commerce giant. Beijing scuttled the IPO of its payment affiliate Ant Group in November 2020 after Alibaba cofounder Jack Ma publicly criticized the nation’s regulators. In April, Beijing slapped Alibaba with a record $2.8 billion fine for antitrust violations that saddled the company with its first quarterly loss since going public in 2014. So while Alibaba’s underlying business chugs along—it posted a 34% increase in revenue in the quarter ended June 2021—the crackdown looms over the tech giant. As of early October, its NYSE-listed shares were down nearly 40% for the year. Another lurking threat is competition from smaller e-commerce rivals like Pinduoduo. In May, Wu, who replaced Ma as an Alibaba director in 2020, said the company would invest any profits that surpassed the previous year’s total into supporting merchants and penetrating new markets.

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Maggie Wu

<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;Europe’s largest private equity firm—and the largest one, globally, run by a woman—continued its growth streak this year. Ardian ended August 2021 with $114 billion in assets under management, a 14% increase from a year earlier, and 1,200 investors, a 20% increase in the same period. Senequier, who founded Axa’s private equity arm in 1996 and spun it out as Ardian in 2013, now oversees 750 employees globally, who collectively own a majority of the firm. Her French firm has pledged to reduce the emissions of its portfolio companies by 20% by 2030 and is launching a joint-venture investment platform devoted to green energy, with a target first fund of 1.5 billion euros. &quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:1063683,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:15389148},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:11,&quot;23&quot;:1}" data-sheets-textstyleruns="{&quot;1&quot;:0}{&quot;1&quot;:559,&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:1136076},&quot;9&quot;:1}}{&quot;1&quot;:568}" data-sheets-hyperlinkruns="{&quot;1&quot;:559,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211001005411/en/Ardian-and-FiveT-Hydrogen-Launch-Hy24-the-World%E2%80%99s-Largest-Clean-Hydrogen-Infrastructure-Investment-Platform&quot;}{&quot;1&quot;:568}">Europe’s largest private equity firm—and the largest one, globally, run by a woman—continued its growth streak this year. Ardian ended August 2021 with $114 billion in assets under management, a 14% increase from a year earlier, and 1,200 investors, a 20% increase in the same period. Senequier, who founded Axa’s private equity arm in 1996 and spun it out as Ardian in 2013, now oversees 750 employees globally, who collectively own a majority of the firm. Her French firm has pledged to reduce the emissions of its portfolio companies by 20% by 2030 and is <a class="in-cell-link" href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211001005411/en/Ardian-and-FiveT-Hydrogen-Launch-Hy24-the-World%E2%80%99s-Largest-Clean-Hydrogen-Infrastructure-Investment-Platform" target="_blank" rel="noopener">launching</a> a joint-venture investment platform devoted to green energy, with a target first fund of 1.5 billion euros. 

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Dominique Senequier

<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;In August, Gaines reported Fortescue’s second consecutive record-smashing fiscal year, with revenues climbing 74% to $22.3 billion, and profits up 117%, to $10.2 billion for the 12 months ended in June. That performance was powered again by strong demand in Fortescue’s main market, China, which has been gobbling up iron ore for steel production, and exacerbated by supply issues in other parts of the world. Gaines’s 10,000-strong workforce met those conditions—even during periods of pandemic lockdown in Australia and amid the country’s fraying diplomatic ties with China—delivering its strongest-ever operational performance and best-ever safety record. Gaines is also working to diversify and decarbonize the company by pushing into the business of renewable green hydrogen, an energy source that many believe will fuel steel production in the future.&quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:15107,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:15389148},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:11}">In August, Gaines reported Fortescue’s second consecutive record-smashing fiscal year, with revenues climbing 74% to $22.3 billion, and profits up 117%, to $10.2 billion for the 12 months ended in June. That performance was powered again by strong demand in Fortescue’s main market, China, which has been gobbling up iron ore for steel production, and exacerbated by supply issues in other parts of the world. Gaines’s 10,000-strong workforce met those conditions—even during periods of pandemic lockdown in Australia and amid the country’s fraying diplomatic ties with China—delivering its strongest-ever operational performance and best-ever safety record. Gaines is also working to diversify and decarbonize the company by pushing into the business of renewable green hydrogen, an energy source that many believe will fuel steel production in the future.

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Elizabeth Gaines

<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;Achmea’s promotion of Tetteroo from vice chair to chair of the Dutch financial and insurance business in April earned the accountant a place on Fortune’s Most Powerful Women list for the first time. Achmea’s earnings before tax in the first half of 2021 increased to €363 million ($420 million), doubling from the same period last year owing to the waning effects of COVID-19 and higher investment results. Under Tetteroo’s direction, the group has promoted stakeholder capitalist values in combating climate change and COVID-19. [hotlink]Achmea[/hotlink] took the lead among a group of institutional investors urging for a more “fair and equitable” global response to COVID-19, asking drugmakers to put people ahead of profits in doling out vaccines globally. With its insurance business staring down increased payouts due to extreme weather, Achmea also says it will invest more in sustainable cities and climate action. &quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:1063683,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:13624051},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:10,&quot;23&quot;:1}" data-sheets-textstyleruns="{&quot;1&quot;:0,&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;4&quot;:11}}{&quot;1&quot;:144,&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;4&quot;:11,&quot;6&quot;:1}}{&quot;1&quot;:152,&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;4&quot;:11}}">Achmea’s promotion of Tetteroo from vice chair to chair of the Dutch financial and insurance business in April earned the accountant a place on Fortune’s Most Powerful Women list for the first time. Achmea’s earnings before tax in the first half of 2021 increased to €363 million ($420 million), doubling from the same period last year owing to the waning effects of COVID-19 and higher investment results. Under Tetteroo’s direction, the group has promoted stakeholder capitalist values in combating climate change and COVID-19. Achmea took the lead among a group of institutional investors urging for a more “fair and equitable” global response to COVID-19, asking drugmakers to put people ahead of profits in doling out vaccines globally. With its insurance business staring down increased payouts due to extreme weather, Achmea also says it will invest more in sustainable cities and climate action. 

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Bianca Tetteroo

<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;As head of Indonesia’s state-owned energy company, a $41.5 billion enterprise with 34,000 employees, Widyawati faced a “triple shock”—falling oil prices, decreased fuel demand, and exchange rate pressure—during the 2020 pandemic year. Those factors led to a steep decline in both revenues (down 24%) and profits (down 58.4%) at the firm last year. While conditions have improved and [hotlink]Pertamina[/hotlink] hit production targets in the first half of 2021, COVID is expected to again weigh on the company’s results. Pertamina also suffered fires at two of its refineries earlier this year. Amid those challenges, Widyawati is working to support Indonesia’s energy transition, by building a portfolio of renewable energy sources to more cleanly power the country in the future.&quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:1063683,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:15389148},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:11,&quot;23&quot;:1}" data-sheets-textstyleruns="{&quot;1&quot;:0}{&quot;1&quot;:51,&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:1136076},&quot;9&quot;:1}}{&quot;1&quot;:77}" data-sheets-hyperlinkruns="{&quot;1&quot;:51,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;https://fortune.com/company/pertamina/global500/&quot;}{&quot;1&quot;:77}">As head of Indonesia’s state-owned energy company, <a class="in-cell-link" href="https://fortune.com/company/pertamina/global500/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a $41.5 billion enterprise</a> with 34,000 employees, Widyawati faced a “triple shock”—falling oil prices, decreased fuel demand, and exchange rate pressure—during the 2020 pandemic year. Those factors led to a steep decline in both revenues (down 24%) and profits (down 58.4%) at the firm last year. While conditions have improved and Pertamina hit production targets in the first half of 2021, COVID is expected to again weigh on the company’s results. Pertamina also suffered fires at two of its refineries earlier this year. Amid those challenges, Widyawati is working to support Indonesia’s energy transition, by building a portfolio of renewable energy sources to more cleanly power the country in the future.

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Nicke Widyawati

<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;After spending 20 years at Swedish utility Vattenhall, Anna Borg was appointed its chief executive in September 2020, becoming the first woman to run the energy company founded more than a century ago. Since her promotion from CFO to CEO, Borg has overseen the opening of Scandinavia’s largest offshore wind farm and a project to develop the world’s first carbon-free steel. Borg, who attended a White House summit on climate change in April, has moved up the company’s deadline for eliminating carbon emissions to 2040, from 2050. To that end, Vattenhall is building the world’s largest offshore wind farm, called Hollandse Kust Zuid, in the Dutch North Sea. Once fully commissioned in 2023, it will have 140 wind turbines and a total installed capacity of 1.5GW. &quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:15299,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:15389148},&quot;9&quot;:0,&quot;10&quot;:0,&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:10}" data-sheets-textstyleruns="{&quot;1&quot;:0,&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;4&quot;:11}}{&quot;1&quot;:446,&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;4&quot;:11,&quot;5&quot;:1}}{&quot;1&quot;:447,&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;4&quot;:11}}{&quot;1&quot;:494,&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;4&quot;:11,&quot;5&quot;:1}}{&quot;1&quot;:495,&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;4&quot;:11}}">After spending 20 years at Swedish utility Vattenhall, Anna Borg was appointed its chief executive in September 2020, becoming the first woman to run the energy company founded more than a century ago. Since her promotion from CFO to CEO, Borg has overseen the opening of Scandinavia’s largest offshore wind farm and a project to develop the world’s first carbon-free steel. Borg, who attended a White House summit on climate change in April, has moved up the company’s deadline for eliminating carbon emissions to 2040, from 2050. To that end, Vattenhall is building one of the world’s largest offshore wind farms, called Hollandse Kust Zuid, in the Dutch North Sea. Once fully commissioned in 2023, it will have 140 wind turbines and a total installed capacity of 1.5GW. 

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Anna Borg

<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;Michelle Scrimgeour oversees $1.75 trillion in assets as head of the U.K. insurer Legal &amp; General’s investment fund—and she’s making sure the massive war chest is invested responsibly. In 2020, Scrimgeour helped author a landmark Climate Impact Pledge report, detailing criteria that 1,000 of Legal &amp; General’s portfolio companies would have to meet to maintain the insurer’s investment. Scrimgeour, a veteran of [hotlink]BlackRock[/hotlink], Merrill Lynch, and Columbia Threadneedle Investments, has shown that the pledge is not empty, divesting holdings from four firms and putting nine others on an exclusion list for failing to meet the company’s climate standards. For her climate work, Scrimgeour has won an A+ rating from the UN Principles for Responsible Investment and will serve as cochair of the global business leaders panel at the 2021 UN Climate Change Conference. &quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:15107,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:15389148},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:10}" data-sheets-textstyleruns="{&quot;1&quot;:0,&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;4&quot;:11}}{&quot;1&quot;:230,&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;4&quot;:11,&quot;6&quot;:1}}{&quot;1&quot;:252,&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;4&quot;:11}}">Michelle Scrimgeour oversees $1.75 trillion in assets as head of the U.K. insurer Legal &amp; General’s investment fund—and she’s making sure the massive war chest is invested responsibly. In 2020, Scrimgeour helped author a landmark Climate Impact Pledge report, detailing criteria that 1,000 of Legal &amp; General’s portfolio companies would have to meet to maintain the insurer’s investment. Scrimgeour, a veteran of BlackRock, Merrill Lynch, and Columbia Threadneedle Investments, has shown that the pledge is not empty, divesting holdings from four firms and putting nine others on an exclusion list for failing to meet the company’s climate standards. For her climate work, Scrimgeour has won an A+ rating from the UN Principles for Responsible Investment and will serve as cochair of the global business leaders panel at the 2021 UN Climate Change Conference. 

&nbsp;

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Michelle Scrimgeour

<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;Great Wall Motors is barreling ahead with its plans to expand overseas. The Chinese auto manufacturer in August bought a factory in Brazil from [hotlink]Daimler[/hotlink], signaling the auto manufacturer’s first entry into Latin America’s largest market. In September, Great Wall announced plans to sell an electric compact car and plug-in hybrid SUV in Europe in 2022. In the first eight months of 2021, the company’s export sales reached 87,000, more than double its total from the same period in 2020. Great Wall forecasts that by 2025, it will sell 1 million cars overseas, part of its ambitious goal of reaching 4 million in total sales, nearly four times its 2020 volume and a sum that would put it in the same territory as Ford and [hotlink]Honda[/hotlink]. Of those 4 million, Great Wall says 80% will be new-energy vehicles, meaning battery-electric or plug-in hybrid models or cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells, a technology Wang has championed.n&quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:15107,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:15389148},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:11}">Great Wall Motors is barreling ahead with its plans to expand overseas. The Chinese auto manufacturer in August bought a factory in Brazil from Daimler, signaling the auto manufacturer’s first entry into Latin America’s largest market. In September, Great Wall announced plans to sell an electric compact car and plug-in hybrid SUV in Europe in 2022. In the first eight months of 2021, the company’s export sales reached 87,000, more than double its total from the same period in 2020. Great Wall forecasts that by 2025, it will sell 1 million cars overseas, part of its ambitious goal of reaching 4 million in total sales, nearly four times its 2020 volume and a sum that would put it in the same territory as Ford and Honda. Of those 4 million, Great Wall says 80% will be new-energy vehicles, meaning battery-electric or plug-in hybrid models or cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells, a technology Wang has championed.


&nbsp;

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Wang Fengying

<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;The pandemic hit the food and beverage business hard, and [hotlink]Yum China[/hotlink], owner of KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell in China, didn’t escape the damage. Revenue slid 6% in 2020. But under Wat, who became Yum China CEO in 2018, the fast food company reported a strong second quarter for 2021; it posted 29% revenue growth and an 83% profit increase from the same time last year. Yum China has expanded in recent months, opening 1,165 new stores in 2020—an annual high—and another 719 in the first half of 2021 as part of its push into smaller Chinese cities. Wat now oversees 400,000 employees; 60% of all staff and 60% of management are female. This year, Yum China committed to setting science-based emissions reduction targets; in January, KFC and Pizza Hut launched new plastic reduction campaigns.&quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:15107,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:15389148},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Calibri, sans-serif&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:11}">The pandemic hit the food and beverage business hard, and Yum China, owner of KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell in China, didn’t escape the damage. Revenue slid 6% in 2020. But under Wat, who became Yum China CEO in 2018, the fast food company reported a strong second quarter for 2021; it posted 29% revenue growth and an 83% profit increase from the same time last year. Yum China has expanded in recent months, opening 1,165 new stores in 2020—an annual high—and another 719 in the first half of 2021 as part of its push into smaller Chinese cities. Wat now oversees 400,000 employees; 60% of all staff and 60% of management are female. This year, Yum China committed to setting science-based emissions reduction targets; in January, KFC and Pizza Hut launched new plastic reduction campaigns.

&nbsp;

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Joey Wat

<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;[hotlink]Novartis[/hotlink] is the world’s second-largest drug company by revenue, and Tschudin, as president of pharmaceuticals, is running its largest business, a $24.3 billion portfolio that spans five therapeutic areas, from cardiology to dermatology, and 100 countries. But the industry veteran is going for more than strong sales growth (up 6% in the first half of 2021): She’s trying to rewrite the business’s playbook, rethinking the way it launches and markets products, in an effort to get its medicines to twice as many customers, twice as fast. That means changing the way it engages with health systems and patients and doing different sorts of deals—like the population health arrangement it has forged with England’s National Health Service, which will use Novartis’s Leqvio to treat 300,000 high-risk cardiovascular patients. Tschudin’s team of more than 30,000 is discussing similar agreements with additional health systems and pursuing other strategies to be more impactful in drug development and access.&quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:1063683,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:15389148},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:11,&quot;23&quot;:1}" data-sheets-textstyleruns="{&quot;1&quot;:0}{&quot;1&quot;:24,&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:1136076},&quot;9&quot;:1}}{&quot;1&quot;:38}" data-sheets-hyperlinkruns="{&quot;1&quot;:24,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;https://www.proclinical.com/blogs/2021-7/who-are-the-top-10-pharma-companies-in-2021&quot;}{&quot;1&quot;:38}">Novartis is the world’s <a class="in-cell-link" href="https://www.proclinical.com/blogs/2021-7/who-are-the-top-10-pharma-companies-in-2021" target="_blank" rel="noopener">second-largest</a> drug company by revenue, and Tschudin, as president of pharmaceuticals, is running its largest business, a $24.3 billion portfolio that spans five therapeutic areas, from cardiology to dermatology, and 100 countries. But the industry veteran is going for more than strong sales growth (up 6% in the first half of 2021): She’s trying to rewrite the business’s playbook, rethinking the way it launches and markets products, in an effort to get its medicines to twice as many customers, twice as fast. That means changing the way it engages with health systems and patients and doing different sorts of deals—like the population health arrangement it has forged with England’s National Health Service, which will use Novartis’s Leqvio to treat 300,000 high-risk cardiovascular patients. Tschudin’s team of more than 30,000 is discussing similar agreements with additional health systems and pursuing other strategies to be more impactful in drug development and access.

&nbsp;

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Marie-France Tschudin

<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;Faber, a four-year veteran of [hotlink]Unilever[/hotlink] who spent most of her career at P&amp;G, oversees the $22.6 billion food and refreshments business of the British consumer goods company. In the first half of 2021, the unit reported $10.2 billion in sales, an 8.1% increase from 2020, thanks in part to double digit-growth in sales of ice cream brands like Ben &amp; Jerry’s and Magnum and the strong performance of staples such as Knorr and Hellmann’s. Under her direction, the unit launched several health initiatives to combat climate change and obesity. Faber has increased investment into plant-based food, partnering with food-tech company Enough to bring a range of plant-based meats to market, and has pushed to reduce salt, sugar, and calories in the unit's food and drink offerings. In August 2021, Faber joined the board of luxury brand [hotlink]Tapestry[/hotlink], and was reportedly on the short list to become chief executive at French food-products group [hotlink]Danone[/hotlink]. (Unilever didn’t comment on the report.) &quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:15107,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:15389148},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:11}">Faber, a four-year veteran of Unilever who spent most of her career at P&amp;G, oversees the $22.6 billion food and refreshments business of the British consumer goods company. In the first half of 2021, the unit reported $10.2 billion in sales, an 8.1% increase from 2020, thanks in part to double digit-growth in sales of ice cream brands like Ben &amp; Jerry’s and Magnum and the strong performance of staples such as Knorr and Hellmann’s. Under her direction, the unit launched several health initiatives to combat climate change and obesity. Faber has increased investment into plant-based food, partnering with food-tech company Enough to bring a range of plant-based meats to market, and has pushed to reduce salt, sugar, and calories in the unit's food and drink offerings. In August 2021, Faber joined the board of luxury brand Tapestry, and was reportedly on the short list to become chief executive at French food-products group Danone. (Unilever didn’t comment on the report.) 

&nbsp;

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Hanneke Faber

<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;It was a bumpy 2020 for the entire commodities world, as demand for raw materials slumped under waves of lockdowns. In 2020, Norsk Hydro wasn’t immune, with revenue dropping 7.8% for the year. But 2021 has brought demand back with a vengeance—aluminum prices hit their highest price in a decade on the London market in summer 2021. Meanwhile, Aasheim has continued to push the company away from the commodities roller coaster, launching a five-year strategy in 2020 to refocus one of the world’s largest aluminum producers, including shifts towards lower-carbon production and batteries, and selling off its rolling unit in March for $1.6 billion. But there has been controversy too: In February, a Brazilian group brought a lawsuit in a Dutch court against the company, alleging toxic waste had been incorrectly disposed of in a river in northern Brazil. (The company says an investigation found no evidence of contamination.) &quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:8963,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:15389148},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;16&quot;:11}">It was a bumpy 2020 for the entire commodities world, as demand for raw materials slumped under waves of lockdowns. In 2020, Norsk Hydro wasn’t immune, with revenue dropping 7.8% for the year. But 2021 has brought demand back with a vengeance—aluminum prices hit their highest price in a decade on the London market in summer 2021. Meanwhile, Aasheim has continued to push the company away from the commodities roller coaster, launching a five-year strategy in 2020 to refocus one of the world’s largest aluminum producers, including shifts towards lower-carbon production and batteries, and selling off its rolling unit in March for $1.6 billion. But there has been controversy too: In February, a Brazilian group brought a lawsuit in a Dutch court against the company, alleging toxic waste had been incorrectly disposed of in a river in northern Brazil. (The company says an investigation found no evidence of contamination.) 

&nbsp;

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Hilde Merete Aasheim

<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;Kristiansen presided over Danske Commodities, which is owned by Norwegian major [hotlink]Equinor[/hotlink], during a chaotic and historic year for the oil sector. In 2020, energy demand dropped, while lockdowns and reopenings produced what she dryly called an “unusual year” for the company’s energy trading business across gas and renewables. In that same year, trading income and revenue nonetheless stayed almost completely stable. Despite the pandemic, Kristiansen has led a strategy of global expansion—particularly to the U.S.—and negotiated a purchase agreement with what will be the world’s largest offshore wind farm, off the coast of the U.K. This year looks to be just as interesting: Reopenings have caused demand to surge, while the early autumn gas crisis in Europe has produced spiraling prices and worries about winter shortages. &quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:15107,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:15389148},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:11}">Kristiansen presided over Danske Commodities, which is owned by Norwegian major Equinor, during a chaotic and historic year for the oil sector. In 2020, energy demand dropped, while lockdowns and reopenings produced what she dryly called an “unusual year” for the company’s energy trading business across gas and renewables. In that same year, trading income and revenue nonetheless stayed almost completely stable. Despite the pandemic, Kristiansen has led a strategy of global expansion—particularly to the U.S.—and negotiated a purchase agreement with what will be one of the world’s largest offshore wind farms, off the coast of the U.K. This year looks to be just as interesting: Reopenings have caused demand to surge, while the early autumn gas crisis in Europe has produced spiraling prices and worries about winter shortages. 

&nbsp;

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Helle Østergaard Kristiansen

<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;HDFC Life named Vibha Padalkar, a chartered accountant who has been with the Indian life insurance company for more than 13 years, its CEO in 2018. In the fiscal year ending March 2021, HDFC Life, the largest private insurer in India, expanded its market share by 15.5% from 14.2%; it now insures over 40 million people across India. And despite COVID-19 devastating India, Padalkar has kept the company on an even footing. In the quarter that ended in June 2021, when the outbreak of the Delta variant quadrupled insurance payments and ate into the company’s profits, HDFC Life’s value of new business grew by 40%, increasing its market share further to 17.8%. In one of India's largest insurance deals, HDFC Life also bought out its rival Exide Life Insurance in September 2021 for 66.87 billion rupees ($915 million) to boost its distribution of products across the country.&quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:15107,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:13624051},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:10}" data-sheets-textstyleruns="{&quot;1&quot;:0,&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;4&quot;:11}}{&quot;1&quot;:614,&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;4&quot;:11,&quot;5&quot;:1}}{&quot;1&quot;:616,&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;4&quot;:11}}">HDFC Life named Vibha Padalkar, a chartered accountant who has been with the Indian life insurance company for more than 13 years, its CEO in 2018. In the fiscal year ending March 2021, HDFC Life, the largest private insurer in India, expanded its market share by 15.5% from 14.2%; it now insures over 40 million people across India. And despite COVID-19 devastating India, Padalkar has kept the company on an even footing. In the quarter that ended in June 2021, when the outbreak of the Delta variant quadrupled insurance payments and ate into the company’s profits, HDFC Life’s value of new business grew by 40%, increasing its market share further to 17.8%. In one of India's largest insurance deals, HDFC Life also bought out its rival Exide Life Insurance in September 2021 for 66.87 billion rupees ($915 million) to boost its distribution of products across the country.

&nbsp;

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Vibha Padalkar

<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;Kirkby took charge at the Swedish telecom, which operates in Nordic and Baltic countries, last May. The company recorded 24.3 million subscriptions and $9.7 billion in sales last year, but despite the pandemic’s demand for all things digital, Telia’s services business—mainly roaming and advertising—flagged in 2020. Conditions have improved markedly in 2021, especially for Telia’s TV and media unit, and Kirkby is focused on further cost-cutting and the rollout of 5G in its markets. The company also inked major enterprise deals earlier this year, including contracts with the Norwegian postal service—its largest ever in the country—and the broadcaster NRK. &quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:15107,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:15389148},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:11}">Kirkby took charge at the Swedish telecom, which operates in Nordic and Baltic countries, last May. The company recorded 24.3 million subscriptions and $9.7 billion in sales last year, but despite the pandemic’s demand for all things digital, Telia’s services business—mainly roaming and advertising—flagged in 2020. Conditions have improved markedly in 2021, especially for Telia’s TV and media unit, and Kirkby is focused on further cost-cutting and the rollout of 5G in its markets. The company also inked major enterprise deals earlier this year, including contracts with the Norwegian postal service—its largest ever in the country—and the broadcaster NRK. 

&nbsp;

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Allison Kirkby

<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;Dame Sharon White, a former civil servant, was appointed the chair of the John Lewis Partnership, the beloved British retail empire best known for the department store John Lewis and the upmarket supermarket Waitrose, in 2020. Since then she’s presided over a painful transition for the business, closing stores and cutting the workforce. Last year she cut the annual bonus for the company’s employees—the owners in the business’s partnership model—for the first time in its history, and for 2020 it announced its first ever annual loss: $704 million before tax. White attributed that loss largely to write-downs and restructuring and has set out the company’s transition, moving toward digital and targeting non-retail businesses—including rental housing—which she says will make up 40% of profits by 2030, and by mid-2021, sales at both Waitrose and John Lewis were rising. Meanwhile, she has also pioneered shared leave benefits in the U.K. retail sector—including paid leave for any employee who experiences a pregnancy loss. &quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:15107,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:15389148},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:11}">Dame Sharon White, a former civil servant, was appointed the chair of the John Lewis Partnership, the beloved British retail empire best known for the department store John Lewis and the upmarket supermarket Waitrose, in 2020. Since then she’s presided over a painful transition for the business, closing stores and cutting the workforce. Last year she cut the annual bonus for the company’s employees—the owners in the business’s partnership model—for the first time in its history, and for 2020 it announced its first ever annual loss: $704 million before tax. White attributed that loss largely to write-downs and restructuring and has set out the company’s transition, moving toward digital and targeting non-retail businesses—including rental housing—which she says will make up 40% of profits by 2030, and by mid-2021, sales at both Waitrose and John Lewis were rising. Meanwhile, she has also pioneered shared leave benefits in the U.K. retail sector—including paid leave for any employee who experiences a pregnancy loss. 

&nbsp;

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Sharon White

<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;[hotlink]Walmart[/hotlink] named Zhu CEO of its China division in May 2020; she’s the first woman and first native Chinese to hold the position. Zhu had been president of Greater China for Fonterra, a New Zealand–based dairy company. During Zhu’s four-year tenure leading Fonterra in China, the company’s Anchor became the most popular semi-skimmed milk brand in China after just six years in the market. At Walmart, Zhu, a [hotlink]Honeywell[/hotlink] and [hotlink]McKinsey[/hotlink] alum, oversees the retail giant’s growing $11.4 billion business in China that spans 403 physical retail stores, some of which serve as fulfillment centers for its partner [hotlink]JD.com[/hotlink], one of China’s largest e-commerce companies.&quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:15107,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:15389148},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:11}">Walmart named Zhu CEO of its China division in May 2020; she’s the first woman and first native Chinese to hold the position. Zhu had been president of Greater China for Fonterra, a New Zealand–based dairy company. During Zhu’s four-year tenure leading Fonterra in China, the company’s Anchor became the most popular semi-skimmed milk brand in China after just six years in the market. At Walmart, Zhu, a Honeywell and McKinsey alum, oversees the retail giant’s growing $11.4 billion business in China that spans 403 physical retail stores. All Walmart China stores have partnered with JD Daojia, a crowdsourcing delivery app, to offer customers one-hour delivery. Zhu helped introduce a new initiative that enlists JD Daojia contract workers to pick orders—in addition to delivering them—which eases the demand of online orders on in-store operations.

&nbsp;

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Xiaojing Christina Zhu

<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;Since Han became Naver’s first female CEO in 2017, she has focused on diversifying the South Korean Internet giant’s portfolio beyond its flagship search engine by funneling more money toward R&amp;D and new business segments. In the first half of 2021, for instance, [hotlink]Naver[/hotlink] invested $673 million in R&amp;D; the company spent $1 billion on R&amp;D in all of 2020. Han’s diversification strategy has yielded results: Naver’s new business ventures in e-commerce, fintech, content, and the cloud accounted for over 50% of Naver’s $1.4 billion in revenue in the second quarter of 2021. Naver has committed to becoming carbon negative by 2040 via various initiatives such as using energy-efficient technologies at its cloud data centers. The company this year also issued $800 million of ESG bonds on the global debt market. &quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:15107,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:15389148},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Calibri, sans-serif&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:10}" data-sheets-textstyleruns="{&quot;1&quot;:0,&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;4&quot;:11}}{&quot;1&quot;:351,&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;4&quot;:11,&quot;5&quot;:1}}{&quot;1&quot;:352,&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;4&quot;:11}}">Since Han became Naver’s first female CEO in 2017, she has focused on diversifying the South Korean Internet giant’s portfolio beyond its flagship search engine by funneling more money toward R&amp;D and new business segments. In the first half of 2021, for instance, Naver invested $673 million in R&amp;D; the company spent $1 billion on R&amp;D in all of 2020. Han’s diversification strategy has yielded results: Naver’s new business ventures in e-commerce, fintech, content, and the cloud accounted for over 50% of Naver’s $1.4 billion in revenue in the second quarter of 2021. Naver has committed to becoming carbon negative by 2040 via various initiatives such as using energy-efficient technologies at its cloud data centers. The company this year also issued $800 million of ESG bonds on the global debt market. 

&nbsp;

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Han Seong-Sook

<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;Few industries have been more battered by COVID than travel, and more than 18 months into the pandemic, Rigail’s Air France—Europe’s fifth largest airline—is still working to get its recovery off the ground. The airline, which is part of Air France–KLM, saw passengers fall 66% in 2020; for the first half of 2021, roughly 40% of its planes’ seats were filled. The airline, which lost more than $4 billion in 2020, received French government support to help it through the COVID crisis, though the financial assistance was conditioned on Air France meeting environmental and profitability targets in the coming years. Rigail, who has been vocal about the threat of climate change and the future of air travel, is very much on board, with targets to reduce CO2 emissions by 50% by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050.&quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:1063683,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:15389148},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:11,&quot;23&quot;:1}" data-sheets-textstyleruns="{&quot;1&quot;:0}{&quot;1&quot;:415,&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:1136076},&quot;9&quot;:1}}{&quot;1&quot;:423}" data-sheets-hyperlinkruns="{&quot;1&quot;:415,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;https://apnews.com/article/europe-paris-coronavirus-pandemic-france-environment-257947c50631f197dccdaf2e0353504b&quot;}{&quot;1&quot;:423}">Few industries have been more battered by COVID than travel, and more than 18 months into the pandemic, Rigail’s Air France—Europe’s fifth largest airline—is still working to get its recovery off the ground. The airline, which is part of Air France–KLM, saw passengers fall 66% in 2020; for the first half of 2021, roughly 40% of its planes’ seats were filled. The airline, which lost more than $4 billion in 2020, <a class="in-cell-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/europe-paris-coronavirus-pandemic-france-environment-257947c50631f197dccdaf2e0353504b" target="_blank" rel="noopener">received</a> French government support to help it through the COVID crisis, though the financial assistance was conditioned on Air France meeting environmental and profitability targets in the coming years. Rigail, who has been vocal about the threat of climate change and the future of air travel, is very much on board, with targets to reduce CO2 emissions by 50% by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050.

&nbsp;

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Anne Rigail

<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;It was another roller-coaster year at Shell, where Uhl has served as CFO since 2017 and played a fundamental role in the energy giant’s emissions targets and pivot toward renewable energy. In 2020, while grappling with a historic drop in energy demand, Shell announced its net-zero-by-2050 emissions target, which will require the company to transform its business away from fossil fuels. That plan has also been accelerated under pressure from a Dutch court ruling in May that demanded Shell move up its targets. Meanwhile, the resurgence in energy demand as the world has reopened has helped Shell’s quarterly returns rebound, with the company bringing back buybacks and hiking its dividend as a result. In 2021, Uhl was also appointed to Goldman Sachs’s board. &quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:15107,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:15389148},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:11}">It was another roller-coaster year at Shell, where Uhl has served as CFO since 2017 and played a fundamental role in the energy giant’s emissions targets and pivot toward renewable energy. In 2020, while grappling with a historic drop in energy demand, Shell announced its net-zero-by-2050 emissions target, which will require the company to transform its business away from fossil fuels. That plan has also been accelerated under pressure from a Dutch court ruling in May that demanded Shell move up its targets. Meanwhile, the resurgence in energy demand as the world has reopened has helped Shell’s quarterly returns rebound, with the company bringing back buybacks and hiking its dividend as a result. In 2021, Uhl was also appointed to Goldman Sachs’s board. 

&nbsp;

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Jessica Uhl

<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;Morgan Stanley’s China CEO has become one of the most influential Asian women in global finance over the course of her decades-long career. After a record 2020 for the investment bank’s Asia Pacific business, co-CEO Christianson has seen revenues grow 26% in the first half of 2021. And as sole China CEO—a post she has held since 2006—Christianson has helped [hotlink]Morgan Stanley[/hotlink] expand in a highly-regulated market, despite the ongoing tensions in the U.S.-China relationship. After the Chinese government allowed Morgan Stanley to take control of its local securities joint venture last year, the bank this year filed to increase its stake to 90%. In late September, Christianson announced that she would retire at the end of 2021, although she will continue advising Morgan Stanley about China as an advisory director. &quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:15107,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:15389148},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:11}">Morgan Stanley’s China CEO has become one of the most influential Asian women in global finance over the course of her decades-long career. After a record 2020 for the investment bank’s Asia Pacific business, co-CEO Christianson has seen revenues grow 26% in the first half of 2021. And as sole China CEO—a post she has held since 2006—Christianson has helped Morgan Stanley expand in a highly-regulated market, despite the ongoing tensions in the U.S.-China relationship. After the Chinese government allowed Morgan Stanley to take control of its local securities joint venture last year, the bank this year filed to increase its stake to 90%. In late September, Christianson announced that she would retire at the end of 2021, although she will continue advising Morgan Stanley about China as an advisory director. 

&nbsp;

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Wei Sun Christianson

<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;Richards oversees $787 billion in client assets in her role as CEO of Fidelity International, a firm that emerged from 2020 with record operating profits. But this year, Richards is proving that she is willing to put those profits on the line to meet climate change and gender diversity targets. Fidelity says it will vote against board directors at 1,000 companies that are large carbon emitters if they fail to improve on climate standards. Fidelity also says it will vote against board directors at one-third of 4,000 companies it invests in if boards do not meet a 30% female threshold (or 15% in certain markets). As a leader, Richards is pioneering new ways of working, reaching out to her 8,500-person team to solicit new ideas like introducing more abbreviated workdays, routinely taking days off for holidays each month, and permanent work-from-home flexibility. Richards can also count herself as one of few financial executives to be honored with damehood, which Queen Elizabeth II bestowed to Richards this year for her services to the financial industry, women, education, and science. &quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:15107,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:15389148},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:11}">Richards oversees $787 billion in client assets in her role as CEO of Fidelity International, a firm that emerged from 2020 with record operating profits. But this year, Richards is proving that she is willing to put those profits on the line to meet climate change and gender diversity targets. Fidelity says it will vote against board directors at 1,000 companies that are large carbon emitters if they fail to improve on climate standards. Fidelity also says it will vote against board directors at one-third of 4,000 companies it invests in if boards do not meet a 30% female threshold (or 15% in certain markets). As a leader, Richards is pioneering new ways of working, reaching out to her 8,500-person team to solicit new ideas like introducing more abbreviated workdays, routinely taking days off for holidays each month, and permanent work-from-home flexibility. Richards can also count herself as one of few financial executives to be honored with damehood, which Queen Elizabeth II bestowed to Richards this year for her services to the financial industry, women, education, and science. 

&nbsp;

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Anne Richards

<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;Viljoen’s first year leading Amplats, as the South African mining company is often called, was defined by the coronavirus pandemic, and lockdowns that complicated and disrupted operations. Even so, the sky-high price of platinum—in demand partly because it is used in hydrogen fuel cell technology as well as other metals, like rhodium and palladium—drove strong results and record profits in 2020. This year’s financial performance is on track to be even better, with revenues, profits, and production soaring above last year’s levels. Viljoen, an engineer by training, takes pride in the work she has done to make mining safer and more efficient—such as with coarse particle recovery, a process that saves water and energy—as well as the efforts Amplats, the world’s largest platinum miner, has made to keep its 26,000 employees and stakeholder communities safe and financially sound throughout the pandemic.&quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:15107,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:15389148},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:11}">Viljoen’s first year leading Amplats, as the South African mining company is often called, was defined by the coronavirus pandemic, and lockdowns that complicated and disrupted operations. Even so, the sky-high price of platinum—in demand partly because it is used in hydrogen fuel cell technology as well as other metals, like rhodium and palladium—drove strong results and record profits in 2020. This year’s financial performance is on track to be even better, with revenues, profits, and production soaring above last year’s levels. Viljoen, an engineer by training, takes pride in the work she has done to make mining safer and more efficient—such as with coarse particle recovery, a process that saves water and energy—as well as the efforts Amplats, the world’s largest platinum miner, has made to keep its 26,000 employees and stakeholder communities safe and financially sound throughout the pandemic.

&nbsp;

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Natascha Viljoen

<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;L’Oreal’s veteran CEO Jean-Paul Agon appointed his long-awaited successor in October 2020. He did not, as some had hoped, appoint the first woman to run the 111-year-old beauty giant; the job went to Nicolas Hieronimus instead. But in the management reshuffle Agon did promote Barbara Lavernos to deputy CEO, a role that had groomed Hieronimus for the top job. Lavernos, L’Oreal’s first female No. 2, heads the research, innovation, and technology divisions at the Paris-based behemoth that earned $32 billion in sales in 2020, down 4% from the prior year. The engineer by training previously served as L’Oreal’s chief operations officer; she joined the company 30 years ago as a purchaser at its Aulnay, France, plant.&quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:15107,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:15389148},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:11}">L’Oreal’s veteran CEO Jean-Paul Agon appointed his long-awaited successor in October 2020. He did not, as some had hoped, appoint the first woman to run the 111-year-old beauty giant; the job went to Nicolas Hieronimus instead. But in the management reshuffle Agon did promote Barbara Lavernos to deputy CEO, a role that had groomed Hieronimus for the top job. Lavernos, L’Oreal’s first female No. 2, heads the research, innovation, and technology divisions at the Paris-based behemoth that earned $32 billion in sales in 2020, down 4% from the prior year. The engineer by training previously served as L’Oreal’s chief operations officer; she joined the company 30 years ago as a purchaser at its Aulnay, France, plant.

&nbsp;

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Barbara Lavernos

<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;For the past 23 consecutive quarters, any P&amp;G division under Keith’s leadership has grown. The beauty division she now oversees, including brands such as Pantene, Olay, Head &amp; Shoulders, SK-II, Herbal Essences, and Old Spice, is keeping the streak alive. In fiscal year 2021, revenue surged 8%, and earnings rose 17%. Under Keith’s direction, six of the brands in her portfolio earned more than $1 billion each in annual sales in 2021—two more than in the past year. Keith has also overseen the launch of several initiatives to promote sustainability, responsible beauty, and diversity, such as one of the world’s first reusable, refillable hair care systems at scale, with packaging that uses 60% less plastic. &quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:15107,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:13228792},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:10}" data-sheets-textstyleruns="{&quot;1&quot;:0,&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;4&quot;:11}}{&quot;1&quot;:346,&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;4&quot;:11,&quot;5&quot;:1}}{&quot;1&quot;:347,&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;4&quot;:11}}">For the past 23 consecutive quarters, any P&amp;G division under Keith’s leadership has grown. The beauty division she now oversees, including brands such as Pantene, Olay, Head &amp; Shoulders, SK-II, Herbal Essences, and Old Spice, is keeping the streak alive. In fiscal year 2021, revenue surged 8%, and earnings rose 17%. Under Keith’s direction, six of the brands in her portfolio earned more than $1 billion each in annual sales in 2021—two more than in the past year. Keith has also overseen the launch of several initiatives to promote sustainability, responsible beauty, and diversity, such as one of the world’s first reusable, refillable hair care systems at scale, with packaging that uses 60% less plastic. 

&nbsp;

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R. Alexandra (Alex) Keith

<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;Kadri arrived at Solvay, the $11.1 Belgian chemical company, in 2019, and quickly set about overhauling it by redefining the 158-year-old enterprise’s mission around sustainability and unveiling a One Planet strategy, intended to build a thriving business that also helps the world address climate change, resource scarcity, and other societal issues. That’s still her stated plan, but a somewhat unlikely challenger is campaigning to stop her: the ESG-interested activist Bluebell Capital, which has called for her removal over practices at Solvay’s soda ash plant in Italy. Bluebell, which was behind the ousting of Danone’s CEO in early 2021, is demanding that Kadri stop dumping the factory’s waste in the sea. Solvay, which notes it’s in compliance with local and national regulations, says the waste is powdery limestone, an all-natural material that stabilizes the shore against erosion. Solvay’s business has meanwhile bounced back from the challenging pandemic year, with strong demand coming from the automotive, electronics, and building industries.&quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:1063683,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:15389148},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:11,&quot;23&quot;:1}" data-sheets-textstyleruns="{&quot;1&quot;:0}{&quot;1&quot;:596,&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:1136076},&quot;9&quot;:1}}{&quot;1&quot;:614}{&quot;1&quot;:649,&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:1136076},&quot;9&quot;:1}}{&quot;1&quot;:658}{&quot;1&quot;:723,&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:1136076},&quot;9&quot;:1}}{&quot;1&quot;:734}" data-sheets-hyperlinkruns="{&quot;1&quot;:596,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;https://www.ft.com/content/dd369552-8491-40a2-b83b-9a1b2e32407a&quot;}{&quot;1&quot;:614}{&quot;1&quot;:649,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/exclusive-activist-bluebell-urges-solvays-board-oust-ceo-over-sea-discharge-2021-09-15/&quot;}{&quot;1&quot;:658}{&quot;1&quot;:723,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;https://www.solvay.com/en/rosignano&quot;}{&quot;1&quot;:734}">Kadri arrived at Solvay, the $11.1 Belgian chemical company, in 2019, and quickly set about overhauling it by redefining the 158-year-old enterprise’s mission around sustainability and unveiling a One Planet strategy, intended to build a thriving business that also helps the world address climate change, resource scarcity, and other societal issues. That’s still her stated plan, but a somewhat unlikely challenger is campaigning to stop her: the ESG-interested activist Bluebell Capital, which has called for her removal over practices at Solvay’s soda ash plant in Italy. Bluebell, which was <a class="in-cell-link" href="https://www.ft.com/content/dd369552-8491-40a2-b83b-9a1b2e32407a" target="_blank" rel="noopener">behind the ousting</a> of Danone’s CEO in early 2021, is <a class="in-cell-link" href="https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/exclusive-activist-bluebell-urges-solvays-board-oust-ceo-over-sea-discharge-2021-09-15/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">demanding</a> that Kadri stop dumping the factory’s waste in the sea. Solvay, <a class="in-cell-link" href="https://www.solvay.com/en/rosignano" target="_blank" rel="noopener">which notes</a> it’s in compliance with local and national regulations, says the waste is powdery limestone, an all-natural material that stabilizes the shore against erosion. Solvay’s business has meanwhile bounced back from the challenging pandemic year, with strong demand coming from the automotive, electronics, and building industries.

&nbsp;

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Ilham Kadri

<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;Uniqlo Japan named company veteran Akaida as its first ever female CEO in mid-2019, tagging her as a possible successor to Tadashi Yanai, the 72-year-old founder and president of Uniqlo’s parent company, Fast Retailing. In her first full calendar year on the job, Akaida oversaw Uniqlo Japan’s response to the pandemic, which shut physical stores but made the retailer’s cozy sweatpants and soft T-shirts quarantine must-haves. In the first nine months of fiscal year 2021, with many stores reopened, Uniqlo Japan’s revenue rebounded 12.5% compared with 2020; operating profits soared 51%. And even in this era of the pandemic, cozy is still king; Uniqlo Japan says loungewear remains a strong seller.&quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:15107,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:15389148},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:11}">Uniqlo Japan named company veteran Akaida as its first ever female CEO in mid-2019, tagging her as a possible successor to Tadashi Yanai, the 72-year-old founder and president of Uniqlo’s parent company, Fast Retailing. In her first full calendar year on the job, Akaida oversaw Uniqlo Japan’s response to the pandemic, which shut physical stores but made the retailer’s cozy sweatpants and soft T-shirts quarantine must-haves. In the first nine months of fiscal year 2021, with many stores reopened, Uniqlo Japan’s revenue rebounded 12.5% compared with 2020; operating profits soared 51%. And even in this era of the pandemic, cozy is still king; Uniqlo Japan says loungewear remains a strong seller.

&nbsp;

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Maki Akaida

<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;Cha, who became the first female chair of Hong Kong Exchange and Clearing in 2018, spent a chunk of past year leading the hunt to fill the most notable vacancy in the city: CEO of HKEX, parent of Hong Kong’s main bourse. In February she and the HKEX board gave the job to Nicolas Aguzin. The head of J.P. Morgan’s international private bank was an unconventional pick; he’s the first HKEX CEO who’s not Chinese. Despite that choice, Cha, who’s also a director at [hotlink]Unilever[/hotlink], has spent her tenure at the bourse pursuing initiatives that more closely tie HKEX to the mainland. In recent years, HKEX has benefited from mainland-based firms seeking an alternative to New York amid U.S.-China tensions. IPOs on HKEX raised record proceeds in the first half of 2021—$26 billion in total, two-thirds of which came via mainland-based firms, but in the third quarter Beijing’s regulatory crackdown cooled Hong Kong’s IPO crackdown as Chinese firms put their listings on hold. &quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:15107,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:15389148},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:11}">Cha, who became the first female chair of Hong Kong Exchange and Clearing in 2018, spent a chunk of past year leading the hunt to fill the most notable vacancy in the city: CEO of HKEX, parent of Hong Kong’s main bourse. In February she and the HKEX board gave the job to Nicolas Aguzin. The head of J.P. Morgan’s international private bank was an unconventional pick; he’s the first HKEX CEO who’s not Chinese. Despite that choice, Cha, also a director at Unilever, has spent her tenure at the company pursuing initiatives that more closely tie HKEX to the mainland. In recent years, HKEX has benefited from mainland-based firms seeking an alternative to New York amid U.S.-China tensions. IPOs on HKEX raised record proceeds in the first half of 2021—$26 billion in total, two-thirds of which came via mainland-based firms, but in the third quarter Beijing’s regulatory crackdown cooled Hong Kong’s IPO pipeline as some Chinese firms put their listings on hold.

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Laura Cha

<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;In January 2021, Wong became Singapore’s first-ever female bank CEO when she took the reins at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. (OCBC), Southeast Asia’s second-largest lender by assets. The lender had a tough 2020 and saw its profits plunge 26% to $2.7 billion, primarily owing to COVID-19 pandemic hits. The Singapore bank’s outlook improved in the first half of 2021, however, recording profits of $2 billion—up 86% from the same time last year. As OCBC’s group CEO, Wong will reinvigorate the bank’s business strategy with a turn to China. The lender plans to significantly increase its wealth management and corporate banking staff for Chinese clients. Wong is a newcomer to Fortune’s Most Powerful Women International list, but she already has a formidable résumé under her belt. Wong spent 27 years at HSBC, driving the lender’s mainland China expansion. She most recently served as the British bank’s Greater China CEO from 2015 to 2019.&quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:47875,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:15389148},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Calibri, sans-serif&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:10,&quot;18&quot;:0}" data-sheets-textstyleruns="{&quot;1&quot;:0,&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;3&quot;:&quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;4&quot;:11}}{&quot;1&quot;:653,&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;3&quot;:&quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;4&quot;:11,&quot;5&quot;:1}}{&quot;1&quot;:654,&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;3&quot;:&quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;4&quot;:11}}{&quot;1&quot;:676,&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;3&quot;:&quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;4&quot;:11,&quot;6&quot;:1}}{&quot;1&quot;:684,&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;3&quot;:&quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;4&quot;:11}}">In January 2021, Wong became Singapore’s first-ever female bank CEO when she took the reins at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. (OCBC), Southeast Asia’s second-largest lender by assets. The lender had a tough 2020 and saw its profits plunge 26% to $2.7 billion, primarily owing to COVID-19 pandemic hits. The Singapore bank’s outlook improved in the first half of 2021, however, recording profits of $2 billion—up 86% from the same time last year. As OCBC’s group CEO, Wong will reinvigorate the bank’s business strategy with a turn to China. The lender plans to significantly increase its wealth management and corporate banking staff for Chinese clients. Wong is a newcomer to Fortune’s Most Powerful Women International list, but she already has a formidable résumé under her belt. Wong spent 27 years at HSBC, driving the lender’s mainland China expansion. She most recently served as the British bank’s Greater China CEO from 2015 to 2019.

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Helen Wong

<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;Cape Town–based Naspers is known as one of the globe’s most successful technology investors. Since Naspers’s early $32 million investment in Tencent in 2001, the Chinese tech giant’s market capitalization has soared to $555 billion (and Naspers' to $71.6 billion). But in the South African media company’s home market? Not so much. That’s where Mahanyele-Dabengwa comes in. The veteran investor was appointed as the company’s South Africa CEO in 2019 to replicate Naspers’s smashing success in backing winners of the Internet economy. Her purview includes Media24 and the fast-growing e-commerce-oriented Takealot Group, as well as the VC-firm-like Foundry, through which Mahanyele-Dabengwa and her team seed promising local early-stage startups. Naspers is now betting South Africa’s tech industry is the future.&quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:15107,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:15389148},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:11}">Cape Town–based Naspers is known as one of the globe’s most successful technology investors. Since Naspers’s early $32 million investment in Tencent in 2001, the Chinese tech giant’s market capitalization has soared to $555 billion (and Naspers' to $71.6 billion). But in the South African media company’s home market? Not so much. That’s where Mahanyele-Dabengwa comes in. The veteran investor was appointed as the company’s South Africa CEO in 2019 to replicate Naspers’s smashing success in backing winners of the Internet economy. Her purview includes Media24 and the fast-growing e-commerce-oriented Takealot Group, as well as the VC-firm-like Foundry, through which Mahanyele-Dabengwa and her team seed promising local early-stage startups. Naspers is now betting South Africa’s tech industry is the future.

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Phuthi Mahanyele-Dabengwa

<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;When the government of Quebec named Brochu the first permanent female CEO of Hydro-Québec, the provincially owned utility that’s North America’s largest renewable energy generator, she was in crisis-management mode from day one. She started in April 2020, just as the COVID-19 pandemic was halting economic activity and sapping power demand. Net income for the year fell 21% to $1.8 billion for the year. But an uptick in electricity sales and exports helped fuel a 24% increase in net income to $1.6 billion in the first half of 2021. In September 2021, Hydro-Québec inked a multibillion-dollar deal to supply New York City with power, cementing the company as a key supplier of clean electricity beyond Canada. Hydro-Québec also develops electric-vehicle batteries and other EV technologies, which are being used in China, the world’s largest EV market, and elsewhere.&quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:15107,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:15389148},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:1644825},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:11}">When the government of Quebec named Brochu the first permanent female CEO of Hydro-Québec, the provincially owned utility that’s North America’s largest renewable energy generator, she was in crisis-management mode from day one. She started in April 2020, just as the COVID-19 pandemic was halting economic activity and sapping power demand. Net income for the year fell 21% to $1.8 billion for the year. But an uptick in electricity sales and exports helped fuel a 24% increase in net income to $1.6 billion in the first half of 2021. In September 2021, Hydro-Québec inked a multibillion-dollar deal to provide New York City with power, cementing the company as a key supplier of clean electricity beyond Canada. Hydro-Québec also develops electric-vehicle batteries and other EV technologies, which are being used in China, the world’s largest EV market, and elsewhere.

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Sophie Brochu

<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;Akerstrom became Svenska Handelsbanken’s first-ever female chief executive in 2019—and its fourth CEO in as many years. Akerstrom, a 35-year company veteran and previously its deputy CEO, decided to address one problem that had plagued her many predecessors: the bank’s 380 branches and what to do with them. The physical locations were costly, but the bank had long argued that they were an important part of its DNA. Akerstrom decided in September 2020 to shutter half the branches and cut roughly 1,000 jobs to lower costs and further digitize operations. In the first half of 2021, the bank’s income increased 5% to $2.6 billion and its operating profit surged 14% to $1.3 billion. The bank also says it will achieve net-zero emissions by 2040, if not before, and it’s retraining its financial advisers to better serve female clients, with the goal of closing the gender wealth gap.&quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:15107,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:15389148},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:3355443},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:11}">Akerstrom became Svenska Handelsbanken’s first-ever female chief executive in 2019—and its fourth CEO in as many years. Akerstrom, a 35-year company veteran and previously its deputy CEO, decided to address one problem that had plagued her many predecessors: the bank’s 380 branches and what to do with them. The physical locations were costly, but the bank had long argued that they were an important part of its DNA. Akerstrom decided in September 2020 to shutter half the branches and cut roughly 1,000 jobs to lower costs and further digitize operations. In the first half of 2021, the bank’s income increased 5% to $2.6 billion and its operating profit surged 14% to $1.3 billion. The bank also says it will achieve net-zero emissions by 2040, if not before, and it’s retraining its financial advisers to better serve female clients, with the goal of closing the gender wealth gap.

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Carina Akerstrom

<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;The idea for design website Canva grew out of frustration Perkins encountered in college: it took weeks, if not months, to learn mainstream desktop-based design software offered by the likes of [hotlink]Microsoft[/hotlink] and [hotlink]Adobe[/hotlink]. Perkins and her cofounder (and now husband) Cliff Obrecht launched a yearbook publishing company to test their hypothesis that students needed an easy-to-navigate design website. Not even 10 years later, the platform now known for tools that let teams design presentations, social media posts, and posters has 60 million monthly active users across 190 countries and says it serves 85% of Fortune 500 businesses. Canva’s skyrocketing valuation, supercharged by the pandemic’s digitization push, has catapulted the Sydney-based firm into the upper echelon of decacorns. A round of funding in September—$200 million led by T. Rowe Price—valued Canva at $40 billion, made it the fifth-largest startup in the world and the most valuable startup led by a female CEO.&quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:15107,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:15389148},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:10}">The idea for design website Canva grew out of frustration Perkins encountered in college: it took weeks, if not months, to learn mainstream desktop-based design software offered by the likes of Microsoft and Adobe. Perkins and her cofounder (and now husband) Cliff Obrecht launched a yearbook publishing company to test their hypothesis that students needed an easy-to-navigate design website. Not even 10 years later, the platform now known for tools that let teams design presentations, social media posts, and posters has 60 million monthly active users across 190 countries and says it serves 85% of Fortune 500 businesses. Canva’s skyrocketing valuation, supercharged by the pandemic’s digitization push, has catapulted the Sydney-based firm into the upper echelon of decacorns. A round of funding in September—$200 million led by T. Rowe Price—valued Canva at $40 billion, made it the fifth-largest startup in the world and the most valuable startup led by a female CEO.

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Melanie Perkins

<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;As CEO of Bidvest, Madisa oversees a broad, highly diversified portfolio of businesses with $6 billion in revenue and more than 121,000 employees. The decentralized firm operates like [hotlink]Berkshire Hathaway[/hotlink], relying on local managers to run its portfolio companies, which range from freight to pharmaceuticals. That makes Madisa, just 41, Bidvest’s Warren Buffett. The portfolio’s assets are highly cash generative and capital light. Madisa’s first full year leading the group coincided with the pandemic, but financial results were strong across the group, with revenues up 15.4% over the previous year, exceeding pre-pandemic levels. Madisa also focused on expense control, portfolio clean-up, and expanding the group through acquisitions like PHS, a hygiene services firm operating in Europe, as well as Interact, an Irish technical service provider, and Axis, a U.K.-based security company.rnrn&quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:15107,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:15389148},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:10}">As CEO of Bidvest, Madisa oversees a broad, highly diversified portfolio of businesses with $6 billion in revenue and more than 121,000 employees. The decentralized firm operates like Berkshire Hathaway, relying on local managers to run its portfolio companies, which range from freight to pharmaceuticals. That makes Madisa, just 41, Bidvest’s Warren Buffett. The portfolio’s assets are highly cash generative and capital light. Madisa’s first full year leading the group coincided with the pandemic, but financial results were strong across the group, with revenues up 15.4% over the previous year, exceeding pre-pandemic levels. Madisa also focused on expense control, portfolio clean-up, and expanding the group through acquisitions like PHS, a hygiene services firm operating in Europe, as well as Interact, an Irish technical service provider, and Axis, a U.K.-based security company.



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Mpumi Madisa

<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;As CEO for [hotlink]EY[/hotlink] Europe, Middle East, India, and Africa, Teigland oversees a 97-country region with 121,000 employees and $15 billion in revenues for the global consulting firm. In the job since late 2019, Teigland managed her division’s shift to remote work, while driving the business forward: In that time, she’s completed 18 acquisitions in EY’s largest ever regional consolidation and business integration effort. Under her command, revenues have increased 5.6%, in part owing to her push into strategy, sustainability, and technology consulting.&quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:15107,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:15389148},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:11}">As CEO for EY Europe, Middle East, India, and Africa, Teigland oversees a 97-country region with 121,000 employees and $15 billion in revenues for the global consulting firm. In the job since late 2019, Teigland managed her division’s shift to remote work, while driving the business forward: In that time, she’s completed 18 acquisitions in EY’s largest ever regional consolidation and business integration effort. Under her command, revenues have increased 5.6%, in part owing to her push into strategy, sustainability, and technology consulting.

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Julie Linn Teigland

<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;In March 2020, Zhang became China CEO of ByteDance, one of the world’s most valuable startups and the parent company of viral video app TikTok. The job puts her in charge of the company’s formidable China portfolio, which includes Douyin, the über-popular Chinese version of TikTok, and news service Toutiao. In January 2021, Zhang oversaw the launch of Douyin Pay, the platform’s own digital payments service that lets Douyin’s 600 million daily active users buy goods and services within the app. The new platform bolsters Douyin’s burgeoning e-commerce business and competes with China’s dominant payments giants WeChat Pay and Alipay. ByteDance revenue jumped 111% to $34.3 billion in 2020 and profits soared 93% to $19 billion. Its valuation in December 2020 stood at $180 billion, while some private equity investors have valued ByteDance at up to $425 billion this year. Still, China’s tech crackdown looms large over the world’s biggest private tech firm. In August the Chinese government appointed a handpicked director to the board of Beijing ByteDance, the company’s domestic subsidiary.&quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:15107,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:15389148},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Calibri, sans-serif&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:10}" data-sheets-textstyleruns="{&quot;1&quot;:0}{&quot;1&quot;:453,&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;5&quot;:1}}{&quot;1&quot;:454}">In March 2020, Zhang became China CEO of ByteDance, one of the world’s most valuable startups and the parent company of viral video app TikTok. The job puts her in charge of the company’s formidable China portfolio, which includes Douyin, the über-popular Chinese version of TikTok, and news service Toutiao. In January 2021, Zhang oversaw the launch of Douyin Pay, the platform’s own digital payments service that lets Douyin’s 600 million daily active users buy goods and services within the app. The new platform bolsters Douyin’s burgeoning e-commerce business and competes with China’s dominant payments giants WeChat Pay and Alipay. ByteDance revenue jumped 111% to $34.3 billion in 2020 and profits soared 93% to $19 billion. Its valuation in December 2020 stood at $180 billion, while some private equity investors have valued ByteDance at up to $425 billion this year. Still, China’s tech crackdown looms large over the world’s biggest private tech firm. In August the Chinese government appointed a handpicked director to the board of Beijing ByteDance, the company’s domestic subsidiary.

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Kelly Zhang

<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;With more than 40 million customers, Junqueira’s eight-year-old Brazilian company now claims to be the largest independent digital bank in the world. It’s also one of the most highly valued private startups: Investors including Warren Buffett’s [hotlink]Berkshire Hathaway[/hotlink] have invested more than $2.4 billion into Nubank, valuing it at $30 billion, and are planning a U.S. initial public offering. Junqueira cofounded Nubank with the mission of providing affordable financial services to Latin American customers, starting in Brazil. In the past year, as the company has expanded its presence in Mexico, entered Colombia, and introduced new investing and insurance products, Junqueira has also taken over responsibility for its Brazilian operations and employees.&quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:13059,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:15389148},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Arial, sans-serif&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:11}">With more than 40 million customers, Junqueira’s eight-year-old Brazilian company now claims to be the largest independent digital bank outside of Asia. It’s also one of the most highly valued private startups: Investors including Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway have invested more than $2.4 billion into Nubank, valuing it at $30 billion, and are planning a U.S. initial public offering. Junqueira cofounded Nubank with the mission of providing affordable financial services to Latin American customers, starting in Brazil. In the past year, as the company has expanded its presence in Mexico, entered Colombia, and introduced new investing and insurance products, Junqueira has also taken over responsibility for its Brazilian operations and employees.

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Cristina Junqueira

<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;Doğan Boyner, the daughter of tycoon Aydin Dogan, could have been content inheriting part of a Turkish media empire. Instead, she quit the family business and built a bigger one. Doğan Boyner founded e-commerce firm Hepsiburada in 2000. The firm, often dubbed “the [hotlink]Amazon[/hotlink].com of Turkey,” is now the country’s largest online retailer. In July, Hepsiburada became the first Turkish firm to list on [hotlink]Nasdaq[/hotlink], debuting at a $3.9 billion valuation. The Nasdaq listing followed a record year in 2020, in which Hepsiburada’s revenue doubled to $750 million as pandemic lockdowns increased demand for online offerings. Doğan Boyner has tried to empower women through her business, creating a program to support 19,000 women entrepreneurs in the past four years and ensuring that 49% of Hepsiburada’s workforce is female. Going forward, Doğan Boyner is eyeing expansion outside of Turkey, starting in places that have sizable Turkish populations like Germany, Russia, and the Middle East.&quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:1063747,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:15389148},&quot;9&quot;:0,&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:1907741},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:10,&quot;23&quot;:1}">Doğan Boyner, the daughter of tycoon Aydin Dogan, could have been content inheriting part of a Turkish media empire. Instead, she quit the family business and built a bigger one. Doğan Boyner founded e-commerce firm Hepsiburada in 2000. The firm, often dubbed “the Amazon.com of Turkey,” is now the country’s largest online retailer. In July, Hepsiburada became the first Turkish firm to list on Nasdaq, debuting at a $3.9 billion valuation. The Nasdaq listing followed a record year in 2020, in which Hepsiburada’s revenue doubled to $750 million as pandemic lockdowns increased demand for online offerings. Doğan Boyner has tried to empower women through her business, creating a program to support 19,000 women entrepreneurs in the past four years and ensuring that 49% of Hepsiburada’s workforce is female. Going forward, Doğan Boyner is eyeing expansion outside of Turkey, starting in places that have sizable Turkish populations like Germany, Russia, and the Middle East.

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Hanzade Doğan Boyner

See who made Fortune's annual list highlighting the most powerful women in business based outside the United States.