FORTUNE's annual ranking of America's leading businesswomen
Marina Berlusconi Rank: 6 (2004 rank: 9)
Company: Fininvest Based in: Italy Title: Chairman
With her promotion in October to chairman of Fininvest, which controls large swaths of the country's media landscape, Berlusconi, 39, daughter of Italy's Prime Minister, solidified her power at the family's business empire. The $7 billion group has interests in publishing, the Internet, movies, and radio, as well as Mediaset, Italy's largest private broadcaster. Fininvest had its best year ever in 2004, with operating earnings up 30%, to more than $1 billion. Look for the profile of this mother of two to rise even higher.
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.
