For years, girls have fought their strategy to the highest. Those that’ve succeeded have change into trailblazers in their very own proper.
Take personal fairness big Ardian’s CEO Dominique Senequier, who was among the many first women to be admitted into her college, École Polytechnique. Allison Kirkby of telecoms firm BT turned the first female CEO within the firm’s 178-year historical past final month.
When investigating Europe’s strongest and influential girls for Worldwide Ladies’s Day, we discovered a standard thread–the wealth of expertise they create.
We found round 35% of Fortune 500 Europe’s feminine CEOs and half of the European girls on Fortune’s Most Powerful Women record are aged 55 and over. From that group we discovered achieved consultants throughout industries—from commodities to monetary providers and prescription drugs—who’ve spent a number of a long time within the company world now.
To acknowledge their sizable achievements this Worldwide Ladies’s Day, Fortune curated a handpicked choice of feminine leaders on the helm of European corporations, aged 55 and above. We drew upon our flagship lists—Fortune 500 Europe and Most Highly effective Ladies—whereas additionally maintaining an eye fixed out for different up-and-coming leaders.
This inaugural record would be the first of many, highlighting the best feminine enterprise leaders in continental Europe and, arguably, the world. Whereas the record will not be exhaustive, it sheds mild on how feminine leaders are shaking up in the present day’s world.
Nonetheless you have a look at it, there’s an unacceptably low variety of feminine CEOs in Europe. When Fortune launched its debut record of Europe’s high 500 corporations primarily based on income final 12 months, we discovered only 7% have been run by girls. That’s a tiny fraction, and divulges how way more work we have now forward of us.
There’s an apparent enterprise case for doing so—women-led corporations have proven greater profit margins and are linked to higher climate-related investments, consultancy The Pipeline present in a research of FTSE 350 corporations.
For all these on the trail to change into future leaders, Netherlands-based Achmea’s government board chair, Bianca Tetteroo, shared the next phrases of knowledge: “Dare to jump into the deep end. What’s the worst thing if it doesn’t work out?”.
Discover 5 spotlighted executives together with two up-and-coming leaders we have now our eyes on, and the complete record under.
Editor’s Be aware: The record under combines information from each the Fortune Europe 500 and the Most Powerful Women lists, as captured in 2023. Income and different information have been captured on the time of the record creation and should not replicate the most recent information out there.
The Callouts
Our staff curated a hand-picked group of European feminine CEOs who’ve blazed the path for the following technology of leaders. Meet them under:
Halvor Molland/Hydro
Hilde Merete Aasheim, CEO of Norsk Hydro
Aasheim is a real jack of all trades. She’s led the Norwegian aluminum and power big Norsk Hydro since 2019, steering it by means of the highs and lows of the pandemic-time demand and value volatility. Beginning off as an accountant, she climbed up the ranks over 35 years by working in a wide range of capabilities from human sources to senior administration. Aasheim, who’s now the CEO and president of Hydro, has been on the firm for near 20 years.
“The best thing you can do is to take the chance when you have it, say yes rather than thinking about all the challenges, and rather look at it as an opportunity,” Aasheim stated in an interview with S&P World final 12 months.
Hydro was ranked #173 within the Fortune 500 Europe list and Aasheim was ranked #60 on the Most Powerful Women record.
Courtesy of Merck KgA
Belén Garijo, CEO of Merck KGaA
Garijo’s journey started as a doctor in Spain. Finally, that landed her in a boardroom. She is now among the many few feminine CEOs within the mammoth-sized chemical compounds and life sciences sector, and is the primary one at 355-year-old Merck. She additionally sits on the board of French magnificence big L’Oréal.
Garijo has been honored for her achievements in furthering gender variety. Over a third of Merck’s high leaders are girls.
“Still today, many women in science will encounter people who resist any change to the status quo. And that’s when you need to be surrounded by people who believe in you—sometimes more than you believe in yourself,” Garijo stated in a LinkedIn post final month.
Merck was ranked #165 the Fortune 500 Europe list and Garijo was ranked #30 on the Most Powerful Women record.
Joel Sagat—AFP/Getty Photos
Dominique Senequier, CEO of Ardian
To steer considered one of Europe’s largest personal fairness corporations isn’t any small feat.
Senequier rose to fame when she based insurance coverage agency AXA’s personal fairness arm in 1996. That finally morphed into Ardian in 2013, and is now a sprawling 1,050-people operation.
However Senequier’s trail-blazing journey started properly earlier than that, when she was considered one of seven to be admitted to Ecole Polytechnique’s first consumption for girls in 1972.
Ardian, underneath the French personal fairness veteran, has dedicated itself to bringing extra girls into this area of interest of finance. The agency’s ratio of recent hires who have been feminine was 42% final 12 months.
Senequier was ranked #66 in Fortune’s Most Powerful Women record in 2023.
Courtesy of Vodafone
Margherita Della Valle, CEO of Vodafone
Della Valle has spent the higher a part of her life—over 30 years—at British telecoms behemoth Vodafone. In that point, she has labored in numerous roles from advertising to finance.
She was the group’s CFO for a number of years earlier than turning into CEO in 2023.
The Italian-born economics graduate is among the many 9 FTSE 100 corporations which are led by girls.
Since taking up the helm of Vodafone, she has undertaken a large restructuring effort, slicing down the variety of markets it operates in, and pull again up its slumping share costs.
“Being a woman in business today is a bit of a superpower because you bring a different voice,” she instructed This is Money. “It is very difficult to get around the table. But once you are there, your voice can really be heard because you have a different perspective.”
Della Valle was ranked #36 in Fortune’s Most Powerful Women record in 2023.
Hollie Adams—Bloomberg/Getty Photos
Ana Botín, Government Chairman of Santander
Banking runs in Botín’s blood.
She took over from her father Emilio as the chief chair of Banco Santander, considered one of Europe’s largest banks, in 2014. Botín is the fourth-generation within the household to guide the corporate.
Botín is, in each sense, a banking knowledgeable as she spent her whole profession working within the business since beginning at JPMorgan in New York in 1980.
She has scaled the financial institution to new heights, establishing it as an multinational juggernaut whereas increasing women’s presence on the board and senior management ranges. Botín additionally serves on the board of The Coca-Cola Firm.
In Botín’s view, rotating girls inside completely different banking roles is usually a helpful strategy to uplift them and supply them alternatives to climb the company ladder sooner, she told CNBC final 12 months.
Botín was ranked #19 in Fortune’s Most Powerful Women record in 2023.
Ones to observe
Listed below are two leaders who we consider are tipped for future success:
Barbara Martin Coppola, CEO of Decathlon
Martin Coppola is a real world citizen—she’s lived and labored in 9 international locations. Her company pedigree contains Google and Ikea, earlier than she took over the top-job at French sports activities retailer Decathlon in 2022. She is the family-owned firm’s first feminine CEO and first chief employed externally.
She is an knowledgeable at enterprise growth and digital enlargement—two components she hopes will propel Decathlon to new heights. The retailer may be relatively young (at 47 years) in comparison with the opposite corporations highlighted above, however Decathlon is already current in 70 international locations and has established itself as one of many largest sporting corporations globally.
In Martin Coppola’s first 12 months as CEO, Decathlon’s gross sales grew 12% annually—however that’s not all, the variety of girls in senior leadership roles doubled.
The Decathlon CEO was ranked #61 in Fortune’s Most Powerful Women’s Listing in 2023.
Debra Crew, CEO of Diageo
Crew had big shoes to fill when she took over from Ivan Menezes, who was among the many FTSE 100’s longest-serving CEOs. In turning into Diageo’s chief, Crew, 53, joined the small however mighty group of girls main FTSE 100 corporations.
Crew is a veteran within the food-and-beverage area, having worked at Pepsi, Nestlé and others previous to becoming a member of the Guinness-maker. She has a tall job because the world’s largest spirits maker faces a cocktail of issues from a listing glut to a slump in demand.
Earlier than Crew entered the company world, she served as a U.S. military officer.
Diageo ranked #166 within the Fortune 500 Europe list.
View our full record of feminine European CEOs, in no specific order, under.
Ana Botín
Firm: Santander
Nation: Spain
Director and Government Chairman tenure (years): 20+
Margherita Della Valle
Firm: Vodafone Group
Nation: Italy
CEO tenure (years): 1+
Dominique Senequier
Firm: Ardian
Nation: France
Founder and President tenure (years): 20+
Allison Kirkby
Firm: BT
Nation: U.Ok.
CEO tenure (years): Two months. (Beforehand President and CEO of Telia Firm).
Isabelle Ferrand
Firm: Crédit Mutuel Group
Nation: France
CEO tenure (years): 1+
Christel Bories
Firm: Eramet
Nation: France
Chairman and CEO tenure (years): 6+
Annie J. Krist
Firm: GasTerra
Nation: Netherlands
CEO tenure (years): 6+
Nancy McKinstry
Firm: Wolters Kluwer
Nation: US (Netherlands-based)
Chairman and CEO tenure (years): 20+
Hilde Merete Aasheim
Firm: Norsk Hydro
Nation: Norway
President and CEO tenure (years): 4+
Nina Jönsson
Firm: ICA Gruppen
Nation: Sweden
CEO tenure (years): 1+
Michelle M. MacKay
Firm: Cushman & Wakefield
Nation: US
CEO tenure (years): Eight months.
Belén Garijo
Firm: Merck Group
Nation: Spain
Chair of Government Board and CEO tenure (years): 2+
Sophie Bellon
Firm: Sodexo
Nation: France
Chairwoman and CEO tenure (years): 2+
Bianca E.M. Tetteroo
Firm: Achmea
Nation: Netherlands
Chair of the Government Board tenure (years): 2+
Credit: This 12 months’s record was ready underneath the course of Fortune Europe’s Listing Director, Grethe Schepers.
