For years, ladies have fought their option to the highest. Those that’ve succeeded have turn out to be trailblazers in their very own proper.
Take non-public fairness large Ardian’s CEO Dominique Senequier, who was among the many first ladies to be admitted into her college, École Polytechnique. Allison Kirkby of telecoms firm BT grew to become the primary feminine CEO within the firm’s 178-year historical past final month.
When investigating Europe’s strongest and influential ladies for Worldwide Girls’s Day, we discovered a typical thread–the wealth of expertise they carry.
We found round 35% of Fortune 500 Europe’s feminine CEOs and half of the European ladies on Fortune’s Most Highly effective Girls listing are aged 55 and over. From that group we discovered achieved specialists throughout industries—from commodities to monetary companies and prescription drugs—who’ve spent a number of a long time within the company world now.
To acknowledge their sizable achievements this Worldwide Girls’s Day, Fortune curated a handpicked number of feminine leaders on the helm of European firms, aged 55 and above. We drew upon our flagship lists—Fortune 500 Europe and Most Highly effective Girls—whereas additionally preserving a watch out for different up-and-coming leaders.
This inaugural listing would be the first of many, highlighting the best feminine enterprise leaders in continental Europe and, arguably, the world. Whereas the listing shouldn’t be exhaustive, it sheds gentle on how feminine leaders are shaking up immediately’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 listing of Europe’s prime 500 firms based mostly on income final 12 months, we discovered solely 7% had been run by ladies. 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 firms have proven increased revenue margins and are linked to higher climate-related investments, consultancy The Pipeline present in a examine of FTSE 350 firms.
For all these on the trail to turn out to be future leaders, Netherlands-based Achmea’s govt board chair, Bianca Tetteroo, shared the next phrases of knowledge: “Dare to leap into the deep finish. What’s the worst factor 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 total listing beneath.
Editor’s Observe: The listing beneath combines knowledge from each the Fortune Europe 500 and the Most Highly effective Girls lists, as captured in 2023. Income and different knowledge had been captured on the time of the listing creation and should not mirror the newest knowledge obtainable.
The Callouts
Our crew curated a hand-picked group of European feminine CEOs who’ve blazed the path for the subsequent technology of leaders. Meet them beneath:
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 large Norsk Hydro since 2019, steering it by way 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 quite a lot of features from human sources to senior administration. Aasheim, who’s now the CEO and president of Hydro, has been on the firm for shut to twenty years.
“The very best factor you are able to do is to take the prospect when you’ve got it, say sure moderately than interested by all of the challenges, and moderately have a look at it as a chance,” Aasheim stated in an interview with S&P World final 12 months.
Hydro was ranked #173 within the Fortune 500 Europe listing and Aasheim was ranked #60 on the Most Highly effective Girls listing.
Courtesy of Merck KgA
Belén Garijo, CEO of Merck KGaA
Garijo’s journey started as a doctor in Spain. Ultimately, that landed her in a boardroom. She is now among the many few feminine CEOs within the mammoth-sized chemical substances and life sciences sector, and is the primary one at 355-year-old Merck. She additionally sits on the board of French magnificence large L’Oréal.
Garijo has been honored for her achievements in furthering gender variety. Over a 3rd of Merck’s prime leaders are ladies.
“Nonetheless immediately, many ladies in science will encounter individuals who resist any change to the established order. And that’s when you should be surrounded by individuals who consider in you—generally greater than you consider in your self,” Garijo stated in a LinkedIn publish final month.
Merck was ranked #165 the Fortune 500 Europe listing and Garijo was ranked #30 on the Most Highly effective Girls listing.
Joel Sagat—AFP/Getty Pictures
Dominique Senequier, CEO of Ardian
To steer one in all Europe’s largest non-public fairness corporations isn’t any small feat.
Senequier rose to fame when she based insurance coverage agency AXA’s non-public fairness arm in 1996. That ultimately morphed into Ardian in 2013, and is now a sprawling 1,050-people operation.
However Senequier’s trail-blazing journey started effectively earlier than that, when she was one in all seven to be admitted to Ecole Polytechnique’s first consumption for ladies in 1972.
Ardian, below the French non-public fairness veteran, has dedicated itself to bringing extra ladies into this area of interest of finance. The agency’s ratio of recent hires who had been feminine was 42% final 12 months.
Senequier was ranked #66 in Fortune’s Most Highly effective Girls listing 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 various roles from advertising and marketing to finance.
She was the group’s CFO for a number of years earlier than changing into CEO in 2023.
The Italian-born economics graduate is among the many 9 FTSE 100 firms which might be led by ladies.
Since taking up the helm of Vodafone, she has undertaken an enormous restructuring effort, slicing down the variety of markets it operates in, and pull again up its slumping share costs.
“Being a lady in enterprise immediately is a little bit of a superpower since you carry a distinct voice,” she informed That is Cash. “It is rather troublesome to get across the desk. However as soon as you’re there, your voice can actually be heard as a result of you’ve got a distinct perspective.”
Della Valle was ranked #36 in Fortune’s Most Highly effective Girls listing in 2023.
Hollie Adams—Bloomberg/Getty Pictures
Ana Botín, Government Chairman of Santander
Banking runs in Botín’s blood.
She took over from her father Emilio as the manager chair of Banco Santander, one in all Europe’s largest banks, in 2014. Botín is the fourth-generation within the household to steer the corporate.
Botín is, in each sense, a banking professional as she spent her total 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 ladies’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 ladies inside totally different banking roles could be a helpful option to uplift them and supply them alternatives to climb the company ladder sooner, she informed CNBC final 12 months.
Botín was ranked #19 in Fortune’s Most Highly effective Girls listing in 2023.
Ones to look at
Listed below are two leaders who we consider are tipped for future success:
Barbara Martin Coppola, CEO of Decathlon
Martin Coppola is a real international citizen—she’s lived and labored in 9 nations. 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 professional at enterprise growth and digital enlargement—two components she hopes will propel Decathlon to new heights. The retailer could be comparatively younger (at 47 years) in comparison with the opposite firms highlighted above, however Decathlon is already current in 70 nations and has established itself as one of many largest sporting firms globally.
In Martin Coppola’s first 12 months as CEO, Decathlon’s gross sales grew 12% yearly—however that’s not all, the variety of ladies in senior management roles doubled.
The Decathlon CEO was ranked #61 in Fortune’s Most Highly effective Girls’s Listing in 2023.
Debra Crew, CEO of Diageo
Crew had large sneakers to fill when she took over from Ivan Menezes, who was among the many FTSE 100’s longest-serving CEOs. In changing into Diageo’s chief, Crew, 53, joined the small however mighty group of girls main FTSE 100 firms.
Crew is a veteran within the food-and-beverage area, having labored at Pepsi, Nestlé and others previous to becoming a member of the Guinness-maker. She has a tall process because the world’s largest spirits maker faces a cocktail of issues from a listing glut to a droop in demand.
Earlier than Crew entered the company world, she served as a U.S. navy officer.
Diageo ranked #166 within the Fortune 500 Europe listing.
View our full listing of feminine European CEOs, in no specific order, beneath.
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.Okay.
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 listing was ready below the path of Fortune Europe’s Listing Director, Grethe Schepers.
