The Power 50

Business has its ups and downs, and so, naturally, do women in business. (Bye-bye, Martha!) But the story of this list is one of achievement: The credentials of these women, including the 13 newcomers, are the strongest yet.

Oprah Winfrey
8. Oprah Winfrey
Chairman
Harpo
2006 rank:  8
Age: 53

Having made stars of the likes of Rachael Ray and Dr. Phil, Winfrey is now trying to use her clout to move the political needle: She was an early supporter of Democrat Barack Obama's bid for the presidency. Politics may be Winfrey's Rubicon; Obama has been faltering. Still, Winfrey's cultural clout is undeniable. Her Oscar special this year was among the top-rated shows that week, and in a tough year for magazines, O: The Oprah Magazine saw ad pages rise 14%.

Indra Nooyi

Anne Mulcahy

Meg Whitman

Angela Braly

Irene Rosenfeld

Pat Woertz

Susan Arnold

Oprah Winfrey

Andrea Jung

Brenda Barnes

Ursula Burns

Sallie Krawcheck

Ann Livermore

Christine Poon

Anne Sweeney

Zoe Cruz

Ginni Rometty

Judy McGrath

Ann Moore

Sue Decker

Susan Desmond-Hellmann

Diane Greene

Amy Brinkley

Susan Ivey

Ellen Kullman

Charlene Begley

Heidi Miller

Cece Sutton

Sheryl Sandberg

Abigail Johnson

Carol Meyrowitz

Carrie Cox

Linda Dillman

Shelly Lazarus

Mary Sammons

Lisa Weber

Claire Babrowski

Joanne Maguire

Colleen Goggins

Kathleen Murphy

Dawn Hudson

Liz Smith

Cathleen Black

Pam Nicholson

Melanie Healey

Amy Pascal

Deirdre Connelly

Jan Fields

Julia Stewart

Cathie Lesjak
25 Highest-paid women Which corporate women raked it in last year - and how much did they earn? (more)
50 Global leaders See which women executives are on top of the world. (more)
6 CEOs-to-be These executives, all on this year's Powerful Women list, are clearly capable of leading a major company someday. (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.