17. Chanda Kochhar
Company: ICICI Bank
Country: India
Title: Managing director and CEO
Age: 49
Chanda Kochhar made history in 2009 when she became the first female CEO and managing director at ICICI, India's largest private sector bank. The bank, with assets of more than $100 billion under management, benefits from India's strong growth, but Kochhar has said she expects ICICI to grow revenue 25% or more this year, outpacing the rise in India's GDP. (Last fiscal year, revenue at ICICI climbed some 17% to $8.6 billion.) And while ICICI remains largely a local bank, with wholly owned subsidiaries in 18 countries making a still-small contribution to the company, Kochhar has emerged as a truly global business leader: This year she served as chair of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
-- R.A.
NEXT: 18. Robin Li
Last updated April 19 2011: 5:21 AM ET
