100 years of power

From Mary Pickford to Carly Fiorina, the most powerful businesswomen by decade.

C.J. Walker (1867-1919)
1910-1920: Honorable mention
C.J. Walker (1867-1919)
Founder, Madam C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company

Daughter of a former slave, Walker (born Sarah Breedlove) may be America's first female self-made millionaire. Beginning with a hair tonic in 1905, Walker made her fortune by creating hair and beauty products for black women. At the time of her death, the company employed 20,000 agents and had sales of about $500,000 a year.

Mary Pickford

C.J. Walker

Elizabeth Arden

Lila Acheson Wallace

Mary Gindhart Roebling

Olive Ann Beech

Margaret Rudkin

Ida Rosenthal

Ruth Handler

Estée Lauder

Katharine Graham

Catherine Cleary

Linda Wachner

Carly Fiorina
50 Most Powerful Women Women have come a long way (don't say 'baby') - and they're not slowing down. The credentials of the women on Fortune's list this year are the strongest yet. (more)
25 Highest-paid women Which corporate women raked it in last year - and how much did they earn? (more)
25 Best-paid men See how male executives' paychecks compare. (more)

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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.