DUBAI: Fortune has announced the 2025 Most Powerful Women in Business list, featuring 100 leading businesswomen from sectors including finance, tech, healthcare, telecom, retail and energy.
Its publication coincides with Fortune’s inaugural Most Powerful Women International conference which is taking place in Riyadh on May 20-21.
This year’s edition of the list features 52 women from the US and 48 from other countries, including one each from the UAE and Kuwait.
Hana Al-Rostamani, group CEO of First Abu Dhabi Bank, comes in at No. 76. She is currently the only female chief executive of a publicly listed corporation in the UAE, and serves on several boards, including the Institute of International Finance, the US-UAE Business Council, and the Arab Monetary Fund’s cross-border payment system Buna.
Shaikha Al-Bahar, deputy group CEO at the National Bank of Kuwait, features at No. 92. She has risen through the ranks since joining the bank in 1977 and was appointed to her current role in 2014.
Al-Bahar is the only woman on NBK’s executive management team. She is also chair of the National Bank of Kuwait France, and the National Bank of Kuwait Egypt, as well as a board member of the bank’s UK subsidiary.
“The rise of women as CEOs is continuing, which is great,” said Alyson Shontell, editor-in-chief and chief content officer of Fortune.
She told Arab News: “There have been some years we’ve been doing the list where it has taken a step back. (But) this year, 11 percent of Fortune 500 (companies are) run by women, and that’s the highest it has ever been.”
There are several studies showing the correlation between “diversity of thought and background” in leadership ranks and the financial outcome of a company, and so, “we track it, and we track the progress (in) the hopes of making business better,” Shontell added.
Mary Barra, CEO of @GM and No.1 on the 2025 #FortuneMPW list, shares what power means to her. pic.twitter.com/AWkC6R6XI9
— FORTUNE (@FortuneMagazine) May 20, 2025
The top 10 Most Powerful Women in Business 2025 are:
1. Mary Barra, chair and CEO, General Motors.
2. Julie Sweet, chair and CEO, Accenture.
3. Jane Fraser, CEO, Citigroup.
4. Lisa Su, chair and CEO, AMD.
5. Ana Botin, executive chairman, Banco Santander.
6. Tan Su Shan, director and CEO, DBS Group.
7. Thasunda Brown Duckett, president and CEO, TIAA.
8. Marta Ortega, chairperson, Inditex.
9. Abigail Johnson, chairman and CEO, Fidelity Investments.
10. Meng Wanzhou, deputy chairwoman, rotating chairwoman, and chief financial officer, Huawei.
Compiled by Fortune editors, the list is based on several factors such as company size and health, as well as an executive’s career trajectory, influence, innovation, and efforts to make business better.
The full list can be found here.
