Just when it seemed that Oprah Winfrey couldn’t become any more powerful than she already is – she’s done it again!
The 49-year-old queen of daytime talk has been named the seventh-most-powerful woman in American business, up three notches from last year, in Fortune magazine’s annual Top 50.
“Last year, Oprah was losing steam, cutting back her talk-show schedule and extinguishing her book club,” Fortune says in its Oct. 13 issue.
“But [she’s] punched up show production, revived the book club – more than 1.6 million copies of ‘East of Eden’ have sold – and revved up her magazine – newsstand sales rose 35 percent in the first half.”
But while Oprah may be the most famous name on the list, her power’s dwarfed by six others, including Fortune’s No. 1 pick: Carly Fiorina, 49, chairwoman and CEO of Hewlett-Packard.
“As head of a $72 billion company, Carly is undeniably the most powerful woman in business,” Fortune says.
At No. 2 is Meg Whitman, 47, president and CEO of eBay; followed by Andrea Jung, 45, who heads Avon; Anne Mulcahy, 50, the chief of Xerox; and Marjorie Magner, 54, who leads Citigroup’s Global Consumer Group.
Among the most powerful in the entertainment biz are No. 13: Ann Moore, 53, who runs Time Inc.; No. 20: Sherry Lansing, 59, who heads Paramount; and No. 25: Gail Berman, 47, president of entertainment at Fox Broadcasting.
One of the biggest stumbles was by Columbia Pictures Chairman Amy Pascal, who slid 12 positions from last year’s 26 to this year’s 38.
“How did Pascal fall? . . . Three little reasons: ‘Gigli,’ ‘Hollywood Homicide’ and ‘Bad Boys II,’ ” the mag says.
Another big loser is Janet Robinson, 53, newspaper operations chief at the New York Times Co., who fell a whopping 20 positions from 28 to 48.
“Plagiarism scandals tamed the Gray Lady’s rep this year, and earnings are nothing to shout about,” Fortune says.
And for the second year in a row, Martha Stewart is absent from the list. The once high-flying domestic diva was knocked out last year thanks to the insider-trading perjury scandal that may put her behind bars.
In a related survey, Fortune found that Lucent CEO Pat Russo is the highest-paid woman.
Top 10 women
1) Carly Fiorina
Chairman and CEO; Hewlett-Packard
2002 Rank: 1
Age: 49
As the leader of a $72 billion company, Fiorina is definitely on top.
2) Meg Whitman
President and CEO; eBay
2002 Rank: 3
Age: 47
After amassing a wealth of users for the online retail service, Whitman’s success has this year manifested itself financially in a stock value that doubled.
3) Andrea Jung Chairman and CEO; Avon Products
2002 Rank: 5
Age: 45
Avon’s shares have risen 39% under Jung’s leadership, and might continue to rise with the launch of Mark, a new product line aimed at women aged from 16 to 24.
4) Anne Mulcahy
Chairman and CEO; Xerox
2002 Rank: 6
Age: 50
Two years ago, Xerox was old news, but Mulcahy has restored the company and in the past year the share price has more than doubled to $10 from a low of $4.20.
5) Marjorie Magner
Chairman and CEO, Global Consumer Group; Citigroup
2002 Rank: 22
Age: 54
Magner has been with Citigroup for sixteen years and now runs the biggest business of the financial powerhouse, awaiting a further promotion promised in the succession plan for next summer.
6) Karen Katen
EVP, President, Global Pharmaceuticals; Pfizer
2002 Rank: 7
Age: 54
Katen runs the world’s largest drugmaker, worth $43 billion, and she recently added Celebrex to her portfolio of ten big-name, billion-dollar drugs.
7) Oprah Winfrey
Chairman; Harpo Inc.
2002 Rank: 10
Age: 49
After a lull of the closed book club and a reduced show schedule, Oprah came back in 2003 with increased newsstand sales of O magazine and further strengthening her multimedia empire.
8) Indra Nooyi
President and CEO; PepsiCo
2002 Rank: 4
Age: 47
Although her rank has dropped four places, Nooyi played a key role in Pepsi’s 2002 earnings increase of 24%.
9) Pat Woertz
EVP, Downstream; Chevron Texaco
2002 Rank: 8
Age: 50
In her oil-refining and sales business, Woertz managers most of Chevron Texaco’s $86 billion in revenue.
10) Betsy Holden
Co-CEO; Kraft Foods
2002 Rank: 2
Age: 47Holden’s position on Fortune’s ranks has fallen eight places this year reflecting a series of hardships, including a run of suits led by the antiobesity lobby against the Oreo-making junk food giant.
THE NEXT 15
11) Abigail Johnson
President, Fidelity Management & Research
12) Betsy Bernard
President, AT&T
13) Ann Moore
Chairman and CEO, Time Inc. AOL Time Warner
14) Sallie Krawcheck
Chairman and CEO, Smith Barney Citigroup
15) Judy McGrath
President, MTV Networks Group, Viacom.
16) Shelly Lazarus
Chairman and CEO, Ogilvy & Mather, Worldwide WPP
17) Doreen Toben
EVP and CFO, Verizon
18) Stacy Snider
Chairman, Universal Pictures, Vivendi Universal
19) Colleen Barrett
President and COO, Southwest Airlines
20) Sherry Lansing
Chairman, Motion Picture Group, Paramount Viacom
21) Pat Russo
Chairman and CEO, Lucent Technologies
22) Amy Brinkley
Chief Risk Officer, Bank of America
23) Judy Lewent
EVP, CFO, President, Human Health Asia, Merck
24) Ann Livermore
EVP, President, HP Services, Hewlett-Packard
25) Gail Berman
President, Entertainment, Fox Broadcasting, News Corp.
10 highest paid women 2002 Total Compensation:
Pat Russo, Lucent: $38.2 million
Susan Decker, Yahoo: $19.1 million
Meg Whitman, Ebay: $16.4 million
Carly Fiorina, Hewlett-Packard: $15.6 million
Anne Mulcahy, Xerox: $12.8 million
Karen Katen, Pfizer: $10.1 million
Andrea Jung, Avon: $9.9 million
Amy Brinkley, Bank of America: $9.2 million
Ann Livermore, Hewlett-Packard: $9.1 million
Jenny Ming, GAP: $8.7 million
Source: Fortune, October 13, 2003