2025 Report
Barriers and Breakthroughs:
A Data-Driven Look at Women CEOs at America’s Largest Corporations
Overview
Our newest report, Barriers and Breakthroughs: A Data-Driven Look at Women CEOs at America’s Largest Corporations, examines the career trajectories of CEOs at S&P 500 companies. Among key findings: Women CEOs are just as, if not more, qualified than their male counterparts. While the typical path to the CEO role is similar across genders, the report reveals that women were 32% more likely to have taken an additional step serving as President before being appointed CEO. This puts to rest the notion that companies have had to lower standards to elevate women!
Other encouraging news: We’re continuing to see a steady increase in the number of women leading S&P 500 firms — from just nine in 2000 to 48 in 2025. Encouragingly, the upward trend appears to be gaining momentum. Of the 64 new CEOs appointed in 2024, 11 were women — accounting for 17% of all new chief executive officers.
What’s more, our study shows that plenty of women are in the CEO pipeline: A look at the executive teams of the 100 largest public companies in the S&P 100 index reveals that women currently hold 24% of key “launch positions” — roles with significant profit-and-loss (P&L) and operational responsibility, such as President, COO, and as heads of divisions and regional markets. This experience is typically a prerequisite for the CEO role. Download the report to learn more.
2025 CEO Profiles
Julie Sweet has been the CEO of Accenture since 2019 and became Chair of the Board in 2021. Prior to joining Accenture in 2010, she was an attorney at Cravath, Swaine & Moore, the law firm where she worked for 17 years, including ten years as a partner. She then joined Accenture as General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer, and Corporate Secretary. In 2015, she became CEO of North America, Accenture’s largest market.
Path to CEO
Cravath, Swaine & Moore
Attorney
Partner
Accenture
General Counsel
Head of Division/Market
CEO
Lisa Barton has been the CEO of Alliant Energy since 2024. In addition, she is Chief Executive Officer of the two utility subsidiaries, Interstate Power and Light and Wisconsin Power and Light. Prior to Alliant, she worked at American Electric Power for nearly 17 years holding various leadership roles, most recently EVP & COO – AEP Transmissions, EVP – Utilities, and EVP & Chief Operating Officer. She joined Alliant Energy in 2023 as President & Chief Operating Officer.
Path to CEO
American Electric Power
COO, Subsidiary
Head of Division/Market
COO
Alliant Energy
President & COO
CEO
Dr. Lisa Su has been the CEO of AMD since 2014 and became Chair of the Board in 2022. She joined AMD in 2012 as SVP & General Manager of Global Business Units, followed by the Chief Operating Officer role. Prior to AMD, she worked at Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. as Chief Technology Officer and VP & General Manager of the Networking and Multimedia division. Before that, she worked for 13 years at IBM in various engineering and leadership positions.
Path to CEO
Freescale Semiconductor
Chief Technology Officer
Head of Division/Market
AMD
Head of Division/Market
COO
CEO
Susan Hardwick became the CEO of American Water Works in 2022. Previously, she worked at Vectren Corporation as VP & Controller, Senior Vice President of Finance, and Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer. She joined American Water as EVP & CFO in 2019. She started her career as an assistant controller at Cinergy in 1992. Ms. Hardwick announced her retirement from the CEO position in May 2025.
Path to CEO
Vectren Corporation
VP, Controller
SVP, Finance
CFO
American Water Works
CFO
CEO
Jayshree Ullal joined Arista Networks as founding CEO in 2008. Prior to Arista, she worked at Cisco for more than 15 years where she held various roles, including Senior Vice President of Data Center, Switching, and Services Group and SVP of the Security Technology Group. Before Cisco, she was Vice President of Marketing at Crescendo Communications, Cisco’s first acquisition.
Path to CEO
Crescendo Communications
VP, Marketing
Cisco
Head of Division/Market
Head of Division/Market
Head of Division/Market
Arista Networks
CEO
Maria Black has been ADP’s CEO since 2023. She joined ADP in 1996 as a sales associate. Throughout her tenure, she has held various leadership roles, including most recently the President of TotalSource, President of Small Business Solutions and Human Resources Outsourcing, and President of Worldwide Sales and Marketing. She was appointed ADP’s President in 2022.
Path to CEO
ADP
Head of Division/Market
Head of Division/Market
President, Global Sales
President
CEO
Corie Barry has been Best Buy’s CEO since 2019. She joined the company in 1999 as a financial analyst and since then, she has served in several positions, both operational and financial. Most recently, she was the Senior Vice President of Domestic Finance, Interim President of Geek Squad Services, and Chief Strategic Growth Officer. She then became Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer in 2016.
Path to CEO
Best Buy
Head of Division/Market
Head of Division/Market
Chief Strategic Growth Officer
CFO
CEO
Christine Leahy has been Chair & CEO of CDW since 2019. She joined the company in 2002 and held various roles, including CDW’s first Chief Legal Officer, Senior Vice President of International Business Unit, and most recently Chief Revenue Officer. Prior to joining CDW, she was a corporate partner in Sidley Austin, an international business law firm.
Path to CEO
Sidley Austin
Partner
CDW
General Counsel
Head of Division/Market
Chief Revenue Officer
CEO
Sarah London has been the CEO of Centene since 2022. Prior, she served as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors and led the company’s technology and digital strategy in addition to running the Health Care Enterprises and Specialty divisions. She joined Centene in 2020 as Senior Vice President of Technology Innovation and Modernization. Before Centene, Ms. London was a partner at Optum Ventures, the venture capital arm of UnitedHealth Group.
Path to CEO
Optum Ventures
Partner
Centene
SVP, Technology Innovation
Head of Division/Market
Vice Chair & SVP
CEO
Jane Fraser has been the CEO of Citi since 2021. Prior, she was President of Citi and CEO of the Global Consumer Bank. She also served as Global Head of Strategy and M&A, CEO of Citigroup Latin America, and CEO of U.S. Consumer and Commercial Bank and Global Mortgages, among other leadership roles. Ms. Fraser joined Citi in 2004 in the Corporate and Investment Banking division. Before joining Citi, she was a Partner at McKinsey & Company.
Path to CEO
McKinsey & Co.
Partner
Citigroup
Global Head of Strategy and M&A
Head of (5) Divisions/Markets
President
CEO
Linda Rendle has been the CEO of The Clorox Company since 2020. She joined the company in 2003 as a senior sales analyst. Most recently, she led a number of operating units as Executive Vice President, including Global Operations and Strategy of Cleaning & International, Better Health, and Nutranext and RenewLife businesses. She was appointed as President of The Clorox Company in 2020 and Chair of the Board of Directors in 2024.
Path to CEO
Clorox
Head of Division/Market
Head of Division/Market
Head of Division/Market
President
CEO
Jennifer Rumsey has been the CEO of Cummins since 2022. She joined the company in 2000 as a technical advisor and since then has held a variety of operational and engineering roles, most recently including Vice President & Chief Technical Officer and VP & President of Components Segment. She was named President & Chief Operating Officer in 2021 and Chair of the Board of Director in 2023.
Path to CEO
Cummins
VP, Engineering
Chief Technical Officer
Head of Division/Market
President & COO
CEO
Lori Koch was appointed CEO of DuPont in June 2024. Prior, she served as Chief Financial Officer for four years. From November 2022 until being named CEO, she also led DuPont’s corporate businesses, which are primarily focused on the fast-growing electric vehicle market. Before assuming the CFO role, Ms. Koch served as Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Financial Planning & Analysis. She joined the company in 2002 as a financial analyst.
Path to CEO
DuPont
CFO, Business Division
Director, Investor Relations
VP, Investor Relations
CFO
CEO
Gail Boudreaux has served as CEO of Elevance Health since 2017. She is a veteran of the healthcare industry and has held several leadership positions, including CEO of UnitedHealthcare — the largest division of UnitedHealth Group, Executive Vice President of Health Care Service Corporation, and President of its subsidiary – Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Illinois. Earlier, she spent 20 years at Aetna. In 2015, Ms. Boudreaux also started her own healthcare consulting company, GKB Global Health, LLC.
Path to CEO
Health Care Service Corp.
President, Subsidiary
UnitedHealth Group
President, Subsidiary
CEO, Subsidiary
GKB Global Health, LLC
Founder & CEO
Elevance Health
CEO
Adaire Fox-Martin has served as CEO & President of Equinix since June 2024. Previously, she held several executive roles at Google leading various divisions and markets, including President of Go-to-Market for Google Cloud, Head of Google Ireland, and President of Google Cloud International and EMEA. Prior to Google, she held various operational roles during a near 17-year tenure at SAP, including President, SAP Asia-Pacific-Japan, and earlier, she spent 18 years at Oracle.
Path to CEO
Head of Division/Market
Head of Division/Market
Head of Division/Market
Head of Division/Market
Equinix
CEO
Angela Kleiman became CEO of Essex Property Trust in 2023. She joined Essex in 2009 to lead the private equity platform, and later served as Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer. Ms. Kleiman was named Senior Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer in 2021. Before Essex, she was Vice President of Investor Relations and Senior Equity Analyst at Security Capital Corporation where she was responsible for the firm’s REIT investments.
Path to CEO
Security Capital Corp.
VP, Investor Relations
Essex Property Trust
Head of Division/Market
CFO
COO
CEO
Ariane Gorin became CEO of Expedia Group in 2024. Prior, she held leadership roles at the company for over 11 years, including President of Expedia for Business, President of Expedia Business Services, President of Expedia Partner Solutions, and Senior Vice President & General Manager of Expedia Partner Solutions. Before joining Expedia, Ms. Gorin spent ten years at Microsoft in various sales, distribution, and marketing roles.
Path to CEO
Expedia
SVP & GM
Head of Division/Market
Head of Division/Market
Head of Division/Market
CEO
Stephanie Ferris became the CEO of FIS in 2022. She joined FIS in 2019 as Chief Operating Officer and later served as Chief Administrative Officer. She was named President in February 2022. Prior to joining FIS, Ms. Ferris was Chief Financial Officer at Worldpay for three years during which the company was acquired by Ventiv. Ms. Ferris played a key role in the acquisition. Prior, she served as Senior Vice President & General Manager of Merchant Bank at Ventiv. Ms. Ferris began her career in public accounting at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Path to CEO
Worldpay
CFO
FIS
COO
Chief Administrative Officer
President
CEO
Jennifer Johnson has served as CEO of Franklin Resources, also known as Franklin Templeton, since 2020. She joined the company in 1988 and has served in leadership roles in all major divisions of the company, including investment management, distribution, technology, operations, and wealth management. Ms. Johnson previously served as Chief Information Officer, EVP of Operations and Technology, and EVP & Chief Operating Officer. She moved on to her roles as co-President and President, and was named President & Chief Operating Officer in 2016.
Path to CEO
Franklin Resources
COO
Co-President
President
President & COO
CEO
Kathleen Quirk was appointed as CEO of Freeport-McMoRan in 2024. She joined Freeport in 1989 and had responsibility for a broad range of corporate functions, including Tax, Investor Relations, Corporate Development and Treasury before being named CFO in 2003. She was named President of Freeport in 2021. As a senior member of the company’s executive team for more than 20 years, she has been instrumental in Freeport’s strategic planning and execution of company goals.
Path to CEO
Freeport-McMoRan
CFO & Treasurer
EVP, CFO & Treasurer
President & CFO
President
CEO
