“I think it would be hard to go the distance in this business without a sense of humor.” ~Patricia A. Woertz
Patricia A. Woertz is a woman with a beautifully diverse background in business leadership. She graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a B.S. in accounting and began her career working as a certified public accountant for Ernst & Young in Pittsburgh.
Fortune Live Media via Flickr / Photographer: Stuart Isett
In 1977, Woertz joined Gulf Oil Corporation, a global energy company full of opportunity. There, she worked in a variety of positions, including refining, marketing, strategic planning, and, of course, finance. After the Gulf / Chevron merger in 1987, Patricia A. Woertz worked as the President of Chevron Canada and the President of Chevron International Oil Company. In 2001, Chevron merged with Texaco, and Woertz became the Executive Vice President of refining, marketing, lubricant, and supply and trading.
Despite her senior-level position at one of the world’s largest oil companies, Woertz wanted more: she wanted to seek opportunities to become a CEO. She left Chevron in 2006 and was brought on at Archer Daniels Midland, an American global food processing and commodities-trading corporation, in 2006.
As CEO of ADM, Patricia A. Woertz is one of the world’s most powerful women. Her net worth is an estimated $50 billion, and she ranked 3rd on Fortune’s Most Powerful Women list in 2010, was the highest ranked woman on the Fortune 500 list in 2009, and was Forbes’ 26th most powerful woman in the world in 2009. Fortune also recognized Woertz as being one of the 25 most influential leaders of the year in 2006.
In her time since joining ADM, Woertz has put extra focus on ensuring that ADM is a global leader in BioEnergy, and today ADM is the world’s largest producer. The company has also seen record financial success while still growing since Woertz took the helm.
