As General Motors goes so goes the country: For women in business, that adage holds out much promise.
GM Chair and CEO Mary Barra topped Fortune magazine’s 2025 list of the Most Powerful Women in Business, repeating as No. 1 for a second straight year. The list, published Tuesday, honors 100 female leaders from the global business landscape, spotlighting those who hold power now and those on the rise to even greater influence.
This year’s version of the list, Fortune’s 28th edition, features 52 women from the U.S. and 48 from other countries — 8 from China; 7 each from France and the U.K.; 3 each from Germany, Singapore, and Brazil; 2 each from Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, and Spain, and one each from Kuwait and United Arab Emirates — from the finance, tech, health care, telecom, retail, energy, and other industries.
“This iconic list of powerful women includes almost half from outside of the U.S., reminding us that the impact of women is being seen globally,” said Alyson Shontell, Fortune editor in chief and chief content officer. “These are women transforming business today and preparing for a future during a time of tumult and uncertainty.”
The list, compiled by Fortune editors, is based on company size and health, as well as an executive’s career trajectory, influence, innovation and efforts to make business better. More than 50 women currently lead Fortune 500 companies, yet only 19 made this year’s list — a testament to how increasingly competitive the ranking has become, Fortune wrote.
There are 16 newcomers, including Costco’s chief operator and merchant Claudine Adamo (No. 43), helping millions of Americans navigate inflation by keeping prices low on essentials, and next-gen execs such as Julie Gao, CFO of ByteDance (No. 81), steering the TikTok owner’s finances through its tangles with the U.S. government.
“This definitive ranking of the women at the top of the global business world…tells us both who wields power today and who is poised to climb even higher tomorrow,” writes Emma Hinchliffe, Fortune senior writer, author of Most Powerful Women Daily newsletter, and editor of the 100 Most Powerful Women in Business list of 2025.
Here are the Top 10 Most Powerful Women in Business 2025:
- Mary Barra, chair and CEO, GM (U.S.)
- Julie Sweet, chair and CEO, Accenture (U.S.)
- Jane Fraser, CEO, Citigroup (U.S.)
- Lisa Su, chair and CEO, AMD (U.S.)
- Ana Botín, executive chairman, Banco Santander (Spain)
- Tan Su Shan, deputy CEO and group head of institutional banking, DBS Group (Singapore)
- Thasunda Brown Duckett, president and CEO, TIAA (U.S.)
- Marta Ortega, chairperson, Inditex (Spain)
- Abigail Johnson, chairman and CEO, Fidelity Investments (U.S.)
- Meng Wanzhou, deputy chairwoman, rotating chairwoman, and CFO, Huawei (China)
Among the reasoning for naming Barra to the top spot for a fifth time in the list’s history, editors said she has weathered significant challenges since last year, including the disruption caused by sweeping auto tariffs imposed in the early days of the new Trump administration.
Now in her 45th year at General Motors GM , editors said Barra is steering the company toward cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence and pushing closer to profitability in its electric vehicle business.
“As 2025 unfolds, GM’s future will depend on her ability to lead decisively through political uncertainty while continuing to innovate,” Fortune wrote.
The release of the list this week coincides with the inaugural MPW International Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Fortune’s first international summit in the region. Learn more about the upcoming 2025 Most Powerful Women Summit, taking place October 13–15 at The Salamander in Washington.
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