New York, October 2, 2006— Indra Nooyi, the new CEO of PepsiCo, has been named to the No. 1 spot on FORTUNE magazine's ninth annual list of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business. Nooyi, who took the reins at PepsiCo on October 1 st , moved up ten spots on this year's list replacing eBay's Meg Whitman, who topped the rankings for the past two years. Rounding out the top ten are: Anne Mulcahy, Chairman and CEO, Xerox (No. 2); Meg Whitman, CEO and President, eBay (No. 3); Pat Woertz, CEO and President, Archer Daniels Midland (No. 4); Irene Rosenfeld, CEO, Kraft Foods (No. 5); Brenda Barnes, Chairman and CEO, Sara Lee (No. 6); Andrea Jung, Chairman and CEO, Avon (No. 7); Oprah Winfrey, Chairman, Harpo Inc. (No. 8); Sallie Krawcheck, CFO, Head of Strategy, Citigroup (No. 9) and Susan Arnold, Vice Chair, Beauty and Health, Proctor & Gamble (No. 10). FORTUNE ranked the women based on the size, importance and health of each business in the global economy, and the momentum of each woman's career (along with her social and cultural influence). The complete list and accompanying stories appear in the October 16 issue of FORTUNE, available on newsstands October 9 and at www.Fortune.com/mostpowerful on Monday, October 2.

“The list of brand-name companies with women chief executives is longer and more impressive than ever, after a year of stunning breakthroughs in corner-office hiring,” FORTUNE editor at large Patricia Sellers says in the opening of the story. “…But the biggest news hit in the heat of August when PepsiCo unexpectedly announced that CEO Steve Reinemund would be stepping down.”

 

New arrivals to the 2006 list include: Carol Meyrowitz, TJX Cos. (No. 26); Pat Curran, Wal-Mart Stores (No. 32); Joanne Maguire, Lockheed Martin (No. 35); Colleen Goggins, Johnson & Johnson (No. 37); Paula Rosput Reynolds, Safeco (No. 40); Deirdre Connelly, Eli Lilly (No. 43); Catherine West, J.C. Penney (No. 46); Diane Gulyas, DuPont (No. 48) and Christina Gold, Western Union (No. 49).

 

Nine women fell off the list this year. They are: Pat Russo, Lucent Technologies (No. 14 last year, moved to No. 1 on the international list); Karen Katen, Pfizer (No. 9 last year, jumped after being passed over for CEO); Anne Stevens, Ford Motor (No. 22 last year, quit); Carol Bartz, Autodesk (No. 31 last year, retired as CEO; still executive chairman); Susan Decker, Yahoo (No. 40 last year, bumped for new candidates); Vivian Banta, Prudential Financial (No. 44 last year, bumped); Barbara Desoer, Bank of America, (No. 47 last year, bumped); Safra Catz, Oracle (No. 49 last year, bumped); Kathy Cassidy, General Electric (No. 50 last year, bumped).

 

In related stories, senior writer Adam Lashinsky spoke with Powerful Woman No. 3, Meg Whitman, discussing her efforts to turn eBay from ultra-hot to built-to-last (“Building eBay 2.0”). Archer Daniels Midland CEO Patricia Woertz speaks with FORTUNE senior writer Jon Birger for her first major interview since starting the job in May about her plans for the agribusiness giant and the role ethanol will play (“The Outsider”). And editor at large Patricia Sellers sits down with the women of Viacom: MTV Networks CEO Judy McGrath, Nickelodeon chief Cyma Zarghami, BET Networks boss Debra Lee, and Paramount Pictures president Gail Berman for a lively conversation about the firing of Tom Freston and the challenges of power, competing in digital media and working for an impetuous boss (“The Women of Viacom”).

 

The publication of the list coincides with FORTUNE's annual Most Powerful Women Summit, the premier gathering of women leaders in business, government, academia, philanthropy, and the arts. The event—by invitation only—takes place in Lake Las Vegas , NV October 4 thru October 6, and provides a unique forum for influential women to learn and trade ideas about important global issues.

 

ABOUT FORTUNE:

FORTUNE, the leading biweekly business magazine, is known for its unrivaled access to industry leaders and decision makers throughout the world.  FORTUNE's annual ranking of the 500 largest corporations; the FORTUNE 500 is the ultimate benchmark of business success.  Founded in 1930, FORTUNE has grown to a worldwide circulation of more than 1 million and a worldwide readership of nearly 5 million.  The Website, www.fortune.com , is part of CNNMoney.com which averages more than 9 million unique visitors per month according to Nielsen Net Ratings. The FORTUNE Conference Division extends the magazine's editorial mission into live settings, hosting a wide range of annual conferences for top-level executives, including the FORTUNE Global Forum, the FORTUNE Innovation Forum, and the Most Powerful Women Summit.  FORTUNE, along with FSB:  FORTUNE Small Business, Money, Business 2.0 , and the Website CNNMoney.com is part of The Time Inc. Business and Finance Network, which is a division of Time Warner, the world's largest media company.

 

Susan Brown Williams
212-522-0133
susan_williams@timeinc.com

Phil DiIanni
212-522-6282
phil_diianni@timeinc.com

 

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