Sun Yafang

Huawei overtook Apple this year to become the world's second-largest producer of smartphones, and the $75 billion company is already the world's largest producer of telecom equipment. Sun, the company's longtime chairwoman has served in that capacity since 1999. But this year, her presence was more visible than most. She was one of a select few executives in Chinese President Xi Jingping's delegation at Davos, and in a meeting with top government leaders from Rwanda to Brazil. And of course, Huawei also had a stellar year, with revenue up 32% in 2016.