FORTUNE's annual ranking of America's leading businesswomen
Nancy Peretsman Rank: 38 (2004 Rank: 37)
Age: 51 Company: Allen & Co. Title: EVP, Managing Director
When it comes to M&A, Peretsman is the only woman in the room with the big dogs. She advised Sony on its purchase of MGM ($5 billion); bankrupt cable giant Adelphia on the sale of U.S. assets ($17.6 billion); and longtime client Barry Diller on splitting his e-commerce empire ($15 billion). She correctly forecast that big media would start to nibble at Internet companies — and they are seeking Peretsman's expertise to get to the table. She's already worked on the sale of AskJeeves.com.
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.
