Top 10 Women CEOs Shaping Global Business in 2026

Meet the Top 10 Women CEOs Shaping Global Business and discover the bold decisions, industries, and ideas driving their influence in 2026.

Ever wondered what it is really like to sit in the top seat of a global company? There are big decisions, tough calls, changing markets, and probably more meetings than anyone would like to count. Yet, some women are doing exactly that and making their mark across industries around the world.

In this Business Fortune article, we look at the Top 10 Women CEOs Shaping Global Business in 2026. Whether we are looking at banking and technology, automobiles, health care, or retail, all these people have very different backgrounds, but their stories are equally interesting as they tell us about the evolution of business leadership. Their stories are worth telling because they show what it takes to lead when the business world keeps throwing new challenges your way.

Top 10 Women CEOs Shaping Global Business

Women Leading Multinationals Across Key Industries

1. Jane Fraser

Managing an international bank is a big task in itself.  Fraser joined Citi as its CEO in 2021 and became the first woman CEO at one of America's biggest banks. After five years of being a part of this role, Fraser's story isn't just about making it to the top, it is about what happened after she got there. Citi, under her leadership, has simplified its operations and cut down on its hierarchical structure, while selling off retail business operations in some foreign countries. According to Fortune, the bank generated its best-ever quarterly revenue in April 2026.That helps explain why Fraser sits at No. 1 on Fortune's 2026 Most Powerful Women list.

2. Kecia Steelman

Kecia Steelman assumed the position of President and Chief Executive Officer of Ulta Beauty in January 2025 having spent over a decade in the organization. The background of this woman is in the retail sector, having previously worked as the leader in companies such as Family Dollar, Home Depot, and Target. What distinguishes Steelman's career path is that she has worked her way up from store operations to merchandising to executive management to the top position.

3. Carol Tomé

Carol Tome serves as the CEO of United Parcel Service currently. Since 2020, Carol has been serving as the leader of the organization, overseeing a worldwide logistics network that works in over 200 nations. Before she joined UPS, she served as the chief financial officer at Home Depot for around two decades and helped in doubling the company’s revenue to above $108 billion.

4. Lisa Su

As the Chair and CEO of AMD (Advanced Micro Services), Lisa Su runs an organization that participates in one of the most watched technology industries globally. The revenues earned by AMD’s data centers in 2025 stood at $16.6 billion, while AMD’s total revenues were $34.6 billion. Its growing relationship with OpenAI has also pushed AMD deeper into the AI race.

Su's story is particularly interesting because she is not a CEO who simply stepped into technology from the business side. She has a deep engineering background and has spent more than a decade leading AMD.

5. Julie Sweet

Imagine advising thousands of companies on how to prepare for AI while also having to rethink your own company because of AI. That is essentially the challenge Julie Sweet has faced at Accenture. As Chair and CEO, Sweet oversees a business with more than 780,000 employees. Her response has been unusually direct. Accenture reorganized its business into a new integrated unit called Reinvention Services, while also making regular AI adoption part of its promotion expectations.

That makes Sweet's story more interesting than a standard consulting success story. She is not simply telling other companies how to change. She is making those changes inside Accenture too.

6. Mary Barra

Mary Barra has one of those jobs where the product itself is changing underneath her. Barra joined General Motors decades ago and became CEO in 2014. She now serves as Chair and continues to guide the company through one of the biggest shifts the automotive industry has seen.

That makes her a fascinating example of global female corporate leaders. The challenge is not simply keeping a famous automobile company successful. It is deciding how much of its future should be built around technologies that did not define the traditional car business..

7. Reshma Kewalramani

Through her work as President and CEO of Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Kewalramani has helped the company establish itself as a leader in the treatment of severe diseases. In 2025, the company posted revenues of $12 billion, up 9% year over year.

Among the developments at Vertex is the drug Journavx, which represents a new class of pain relief medication that is different from opioid medications. More than one million prescriptions were filled as of 2026.

Her career path is a perfect example of how expertise in a specific field can influence corporate governance. However, in the case of health care industry, the relation between scientific knowledge and the business story is inevitable.

8. Liz Westcott

Liz Westcott was appointed the CEO and Managing Director of Woodside Energy in March 2026 after having accumulated more than three decades' worth of experience in the energy sector. Prior to joining Woodside Energy, Westcott had served in various technical and leadership roles at ExxonMobil for 25 years. She joined Woodside in 2023 and was responsible for its Australian operations before that.

9. Vanessa Hudson

Vanessa Hudson was appointed the CEO and MD of Qantas Group in September 2023 after having worked with the firm for close to 30 years. Prior to becoming CEO, she had the position of CFO at the time of the pandemic and after the pandemic, which gave her an opportunity to be aware of the most difficult period that the aviation industry could go through. Her career with Qantas involved finance, customer experience, sales, and networks.

10. Choi Soo-yeon

In 2022, Choi Soo-yeon became the CEO of NAVER Corporation of South Korea, and continues to hold this position as at 2026. The CEO has been taking the platform towards exploring new markets including AI, commerce, and payment among others. Under her leadership as the CEO, NAVER has earned revenue worth KRW 3.39 trillion in the second quarter of 2026. Global C2C revenue rose by 74.9%.

Together, these executives demonstrate the wide reach of women leading multinationals  and the growing role of  Leading female executives in finance, technology, and automotive sectors.

Is the Number of Women CEOs Really Growing?

The progress is real but the numbers show there is still a large gap. In 2026, a record 34 women were running companies on the Fortune Global 500. However, that represented only 6.8% of the companies on the list. In the U.S. Fortune 500, 55 women were CEOs, representing 11% of the companies.

Europe also recorded progress in 2026. Women led 43 companies on the Fortune 500 Europe list, representing 8.6% of the companies. These numbers show two things at once. More women are reaching the highest levels of business but women still represent a relatively small share of CEO positions at the world's largest companies.

Why These Leaders Matter in 2026

It is not only their status but also the fact that these executives make important decisions at a time when artificial intelligence, automation, fintech, cleantech, changing consumer behavior, and global supply chains have changed many aspects of businesses. Their careers demonstrate that there is no single road to a CEO office for young professionals. People achieve success by different paths, with distinct sets of experiences, and lessons learned along the way.

Top 10 women CEOs shaping the global business in 2026 show how much things have changed. These remarkable women, representing a variety of industries and countries, have each had a unique journey.

As more and more women find themselves in the ranks of the executive leadership, the focus turns from their mere presence to their impact, influence, decisions, and successes. This shows how much business environment has evolved and shows that the future of leadership will be very different from what we have seen before.

FAQs

Why are women CEOs becoming increasingly influential in global business?

Women are taking larger leadership roles across technology, healthcare, energy, aviation, finance, and consumer industries, influencing major business and investment decisions.

What common qualities do these women leaders demonstrate?

Their careers highlight long-term industry expertise, adaptability, technological awareness, strategic decision-making, and the ability to lead major organizations through significant market changes.

Which industries have the strongest representation among these women leaders?

Finance and technology have a strong presence, while automotive, healthcare, consulting, and global retail are also represented.

What can future business leaders learn from these women?

Their careers show the value of strong industry knowledge, adaptability, long-term thinking, clear decision-making, and the ability to lead through major changes. They also demonstrate that senior leadership can be built through very different career paths.