FORTUNE's annual ranking of America's leading businesswomen
Brenda Barnes Rank: 3 (2004 Rank: 39)
Age: 51 Company:Sara Lee Based in: San Jose Title: President and CEO Get quote:EBAY
Barnes made the biggest leap up the list this year for good reason: She was promoted to CEO of this $19 billion corporation in February. To deal with Sara Lee's problems, Barnes plans to centralize operations and focus on core food and beverage brands.
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.
