In the early months of 2023, the ranks of the world’s most powerful women thinned. Between January and April, political leaders Sanna Marin, Jacinda Ardern and Nicola Sturgeon either lost or relinquished their jobs overseeing Finland, New Zealand and Scotland. Susan Wojcicki stepped down as YouTube CEO after nine years at the helm. So did Martina Merz, the chief executive of German conglomerate Thyssenkrupp. Every one of them was replaced by a man.

“You’re not always going to be followed by a woman just because a woman had been in the position,” Hillary Rodham Clinton told Forbes in March. “We still have work to do to [put] women in a position to step into leadership roles.”

When the seasons changed to summer, the story of female power started heating up. In May, Robyn Grew became the first woman to lead the Man Group, a hedge fund with $161 billion in assets and whose name reflects the gender composition of its industry. U.S. Army veteran Debra Crew took the helm of alcohol giant Diageo in June, becoming one of just a handful of female CEOs at the 100 largest companies on the London Stock Exchange. And of course, the triumvirate of Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and Barbie sparked billions of dollars of consumer spending. Their influence on consumers was so powerful that Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell addressed it in a July press conference.

Read more at: https://www.forbes.com/lists/power-women/?sh=4bf1f5245a95