FORTUNE's annual ranking of America's leading businesswomen
Clara Furse Rank: 19 (2004 rank: 17)
Company: London Stock Exchange Based in: Britain Title: CEO
Furse manages to keep a low profile, shunning the attention the City's highfliers inevitably attract. But she has been making news because of her desire to keep the London Stock Exchange independent. The 48-year-old Canadian-born Furse rebuffed an offer from Deutsche Börse as well as interest from Euronext, owner of the Paris bourse. Now the Australian bank Macquarie is pondering a bid. Expect Furse to remain in the spotlight.
From the November 14, 2005 issue
Highest pay
These women are among the highest paid in corporate America. All of them are employed by companies with over $1 billion in sales that filed proxies by September 1, 2005.
Newcomer Charlene Begley heads up GE's plastics division and is the youngest of this group at age 39. She bumped last year's youngest gun, Citigroup CFO Sallie Krawcheck, now 40. But, on average, the Power 50 are in their late 40s.
