Oprah has built herself a media empire.
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Women play powerful roles in the world, and their influence is ever growing. Once upon a time, females were encouraged to aspire only so far: find a good husband and raise a family. In this day and age, though, women are finding that they can be whatever they want to be—no matter what society has told them in the past.
That’s not to say that sexism doesn’t exist; it is definitely something that women battle even today. In the United States, women have far more rights than in other places, but even here they are still fighting for equal pay and treatment.
Every year, Forbes releases its list, “The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women.” This year, the subtitle for the article was cheer-worthy: The 100 Women Who Run The World.
So who made the list?
On the business side of things, several women made the cut. Jill Abramson, executive editor of the New York Times, won the number five spot. Sheryl Sandberg snagged the number ten place, her achievements listing both her role as COO of Facebook and as a new author.
Oprah, who has built a media empire in her own name, is eleventh on the list, followed closely by PepsiCo’s Indra Nooyi. Thirteenth is Irene Rosenfeld, who is chairman and CEO of Kraft Foods, Inc. Virginia “Ginni” Rommetty, an innovative leader and CEO of IBM is the number fifteen most powerful woman. Ursula Burns, Meg Whitman, Maria das Graças Silva Foster, Marissa Mayer, Anne Sweeney, Angela Braly and Susan Wojcicky all fell in the top twenty-five of the list.
We’ve already profiled several of these women (and we’re always adding more). Read about the following women in the top 25 in more detail:
