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YOU GO, GIRLS! – MOST-POWERFUL WOMEN RANKINGS SHOW CARLY NO. 1, OPRAH RISING

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