Fortune Has Named The 50 Most Powerful Women In Business

fortune powerful women — (Image credit: Rex)

From tech CEOs to big time beauty names, these are the business women to look up to this year

You would be forgiven for thinking that 2017 has been a bleak year for women in business, with sad revelations about the realities of the gender pay gap and sexual harassment emerging each week.

Thankfully there's some good news - for the 20th year running Fortune has released their 2017 list, ranking the 50 most powerful businesswomen - and just looking at the list is getting us empowered.

From the CEOs of Pepsi and Facebook to the COO of Facebook and the President of Hershey, these influential women cover all spectrums, with Reese Witherspoon just falling short of a mention, ranking 51st for the launch of her Emmy award winning production company, Pacific Standard, and her lifestyle brand, Draper James.

These 50 women prove that when it comes to business, women are right there at the forefront, so if you're feeling disempowered, give this a read...

1. Mary Barra Chairman and CEO, General Motors 2. Indra Nooyi Chairman and CEO, PepsiCo 3. Marillyn Hewson Chairman, President and CEO, Lockheed Martin 4. Abigail Johnson Chairman and CEO, Fidelity Investments 5. Sheryl Sandberg COO, Facebook

6. Ginni Rometty Chairman, President and CEO, IBM 7. Meg Whitman CEO, Hewlett Packard Enterprise 8. Safra Catz Co-CEO, Oracle 9. Phebe Novakovic Chairman and CEO, General Dynamics 10. Ruth Porat SVP and CFO, Alphabet

11. Lynn Good Chairman, President and CEO, Duke Energy 12. Helena Foulkes President, CVS/Pharmacy 13. Angela Ahrendts SVP, Retail, Apple 14. Susan Wojcicki CEO, YouTube 15. Tricia Griffith President and CEO, Progressive

16. Cathy Engelbert CEO, Deloitte 17. Pam Nicholson President and CEO, Enterprise Holdings 18. Ann Marie Campbell EVP, U.S. Stores, Home Depot 19. Geisha Williams CEO and President, PG&E Corporation 20. Debra Reed Chairman, President and CEO, Sempra Energy

21. Karen Lynch President, Aetna 22. Sandra Peterson Group Worldwide Chair, Johnson & Johnson 23. Heather Bresch CEO, Mylan 24. Marianne Lake CFO, JPMorgan Chase 25. Margaret Keane President and CEO, Synchrony Financial

26. Amy Hood EVP and CFO, Microsoft 27. Mary Callahan Erdoes CEO, JPM Asset Management, JPMorgan Chase 28. Judith McKenna EVP and COO, Walmart 29. Barbara Rentler CEO, Ross Stores 30. Leanne Caret President and CEO of Defense, Space & Security, Boeing

31. Denise Morrison President and CEO, Campbell Soup 32. Vicki Hollub President and CEO, Occidental Petroleum 33. Shari Ballard Senior EVP and President of Multichannel Retail, Best Buy 34. Debra Crew President and CEO, Reynolds American, British American Tobacco 35. Kathleen Murphy President, Personal Investing, Fidelity Investments

36. Lynne Doughtie Chairman and CEO, KPMG U.S. 37. Mary Mack Senior EVP and Head of Community Banking, Wells Fargo 38. Julie Sweet CEO, North America, Accenture 39. Carolyn Tastad Group President, North America, Procter & Gamble 40. Bridget Van Kralingen SVP, Industry Platforms, IBM

41. Crystal Hanlon President, Northern Division, Home Depot 42. Shira Goodman CEO, Staples 43. Jennifer Taubert Company Group Chairman, Johnson & Johnson 44. Anna Manning President and CEO, Reinsurance Group of America

45. Michele Buck President and CEO, Hershey 46. Deanna Mulligan President and CEO, Guardian Life Insurance 47. Bonnie Hammer Chairman, NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment Group, Comcast 48. Mary Dillon CEO, Ulta Beauty 49. Margo Georgiadis CEO, Mattel 50. Anne Finucane Vice Chairman, Bank of America

Jenny Proudfoot is an award-winning journalist, specialising in lifestyle, culture, entertainment, international development and politics. After working at Marie Claire UK for seven years - rising from intern to Features Editor - she is now a freelance contributor to the News and Features section.

In 2021, Jenny was named as a winner on the PPA's '30 under 30' list, and was also listed as a rising star in journalism.