At the beginning of this year, the Fortune 500 crossed a milestone: for the first time in history, women ran more than 10% of the businesses on the list of America's largest public companies. Five months later, the 69th annual Fortune 500 ranking is out, and those CEOs are proving their staying power. Women run 10.4% of companies on the Fortune 500 this year.
The Fortune 500 ranks the largest U.S. public companies by revenue; the 500 companies on the list represent $18 trillion in revenue, more than two-thirds of U.S. GDP. The list is a microcosm for American business writ large, so the share of firms led by female CEOs sheds light on gender diversity in executive leadership beyond just this elite cohort.
