2015's Most Powerful Women in CG
Now in its 18th year, Fortune's Most Powerful Women list boasts 27 CEOs with control of over one trillion dollars in stock market value. But there are 24 more female executives that made it on this annual list and here, CGT shines a spotlight on the consumer goods executives that made the 2015 list including excerpts on why:
No. 2 Indra Nooyi
CEO and Chairman, PepsiCo
“Nooyi marks her ninth year atop the $66.6 billion snack-and-drink behemoth in a stronger position than she’s been in for a long time. She beat back a challenge from activist investor Nelson Peltz, landed a big marketing deal with the NBA, and managed to post 4% organic revenue growth in 2014 even as consumers’ tastes have shifted toward kale and quinoa. She removed aspartame from Diet Pepsi this year—and has boosted R&D growth accordingly. Yet people are still eating Lay’s—also good news for Nooyi.”
No. 5 Ellen Kullman
CEO and Chairman, DuPont
“Kullman notched a major (and rare) win against an activist in May when her shareholders voted down Nelson Peltz’s proxy fight to split up DuPont and nominate his candidates to its board. Still, you can’t fault his attempt to shake things up; revenue declined slightly last year to $36 billion, while profits sank 25% to $3.6 billion. The chemicals conglomerate took a page from Peltz’s playbook when it spun off its Chemours subsidiary in July. Kullman maintains it was her own idea all along.”
No. 9 Irene Rosenfeld
CEO and Chairman, Mondelez International
“Activist investors Nelson Peltz and Bill Ackman put pressure on Rosenfeld to break Kraft into two companies in 2011. Now Rosenfeld, who runs the resulting $34 billion global snack business, is facing off against both men again. Peltz, who has a board seat, and Ackman, who announced a $5.5 billion (about 7.5%) stake in the company in August, are pressing her to cut costs and increase revenue. She’s already implemented zero-based budgeting and closed old factories, which have boosted margins.”
No. 24 Denise Morrison
CEO and President, Campbell Soup
"Morrison has been one of the most vocal CEOs when it comes to addressing the challenges facing Big Food. Since she took the top job in 2011, she has attempted to remake the iconic company to appeal to consumers shifting their eating habits toward healthy and fresh. Campbell has acquired natural food brands like Bolthouse Farms, Plum Organics, and, in June, Garden Fresh Gourmet."
No. 25 Susan Cameron
CEO and President, Reynolds American
"In the second year of Cameron’s second stint as CEO of Reynolds American, the nation’s No. 2 cigarette maker closed the $27.4 billion purchase of rival Lorillard—the largest deal ever led by a female CEO. Cameron has also fulfilled her promise to make Reynolds what she calls the “vaper authority”: Its Vuse became the nation’s bestselling e-cigarette—with 33.6% of the market—in the year since its nationwide release."
No. 28 Sandra Peterson
Group Worldwide Chairman, Johnson & Johnson
"Its stock price has flagged of late, but J&J’s revenue rose more than 4% last year to $74.3 billion, driven in part by Peterson, who heads four product segments worth $20 billion—including one of the fastest-growing consumer packaged-goods businesses in the U.S. last year. She also oversees IT and the supply chain for all of J&J."
No. 36 Carolyn Tastad
Group President, North America, Procter & Gamble
"In January the Canadian-born Tastad became the new head of P&G’s struggling North America division. She now oversees P&G’s largest market, with approximately $30 billion of the company’s $76.3 billion in sales, though the unit has shrunk as P&G sells off nonperforming brands. It’s a tough go at P&G right now: In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015, P&G’s overall sales fell 9%."
No. 46 Debra Crew
President and Chief Commercial Officer, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, Reynolds American
"Who would have expected Crew, the former head of PepsiCo’s North America nutrition unit, to join Reynolds American as head of its cigarette business? She did, last year, then helped integrate Reynolds’s $27.4 billion purchase of Lorillard. Crew will oversee $8.8 billion of Reynolds’s estimated $11 billion in post-merger sales and could succeed CEO Cameron."
No. 49 Sheri S. McCoy
CEO, Avon Products
"More than three years in, McCoy is still trying to fix the direct seller of beauty products—which has caused her to fall in our ranking. In 2014, Avon reported its third straight annual loss; the stock is down some 65% over the past year. Overseas, the company was hit by a strong U.S. dollar. And while the North American business is on track to be profitable this year, its army of Avon ladies is dwindling."
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No. 2 Indra Nooyi
CEO and Chairman, PepsiCo
“Nooyi marks her ninth year atop the $66.6 billion snack-and-drink behemoth in a stronger position than she’s been in for a long time. She beat back a challenge from activist investor Nelson Peltz, landed a big marketing deal with the NBA, and managed to post 4% organic revenue growth in 2014 even as consumers’ tastes have shifted toward kale and quinoa. She removed aspartame from Diet Pepsi this year—and has boosted R&D growth accordingly. Yet people are still eating Lay’s—also good news for Nooyi.”
No. 5 Ellen Kullman
CEO and Chairman, DuPont
“Kullman notched a major (and rare) win against an activist in May when her shareholders voted down Nelson Peltz’s proxy fight to split up DuPont and nominate his candidates to its board. Still, you can’t fault his attempt to shake things up; revenue declined slightly last year to $36 billion, while profits sank 25% to $3.6 billion. The chemicals conglomerate took a page from Peltz’s playbook when it spun off its Chemours subsidiary in July. Kullman maintains it was her own idea all along.”
No. 9 Irene Rosenfeld
CEO and Chairman, Mondelez International
“Activist investors Nelson Peltz and Bill Ackman put pressure on Rosenfeld to break Kraft into two companies in 2011. Now Rosenfeld, who runs the resulting $34 billion global snack business, is facing off against both men again. Peltz, who has a board seat, and Ackman, who announced a $5.5 billion (about 7.5%) stake in the company in August, are pressing her to cut costs and increase revenue. She’s already implemented zero-based budgeting and closed old factories, which have boosted margins.”
No. 24 Denise Morrison
CEO and President, Campbell Soup
"Morrison has been one of the most vocal CEOs when it comes to addressing the challenges facing Big Food. Since she took the top job in 2011, she has attempted to remake the iconic company to appeal to consumers shifting their eating habits toward healthy and fresh. Campbell has acquired natural food brands like Bolthouse Farms, Plum Organics, and, in June, Garden Fresh Gourmet."
No. 25 Susan Cameron
CEO and President, Reynolds American
"In the second year of Cameron’s second stint as CEO of Reynolds American, the nation’s No. 2 cigarette maker closed the $27.4 billion purchase of rival Lorillard—the largest deal ever led by a female CEO. Cameron has also fulfilled her promise to make Reynolds what she calls the “vaper authority”: Its Vuse became the nation’s bestselling e-cigarette—with 33.6% of the market—in the year since its nationwide release."
No. 28 Sandra Peterson
Group Worldwide Chairman, Johnson & Johnson
"Its stock price has flagged of late, but J&J’s revenue rose more than 4% last year to $74.3 billion, driven in part by Peterson, who heads four product segments worth $20 billion—including one of the fastest-growing consumer packaged-goods businesses in the U.S. last year. She also oversees IT and the supply chain for all of J&J."
No. 36 Carolyn Tastad
Group President, North America, Procter & Gamble
"In January the Canadian-born Tastad became the new head of P&G’s struggling North America division. She now oversees P&G’s largest market, with approximately $30 billion of the company’s $76.3 billion in sales, though the unit has shrunk as P&G sells off nonperforming brands. It’s a tough go at P&G right now: In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015, P&G’s overall sales fell 9%."
No. 46 Debra Crew
President and Chief Commercial Officer, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, Reynolds American
"Who would have expected Crew, the former head of PepsiCo’s North America nutrition unit, to join Reynolds American as head of its cigarette business? She did, last year, then helped integrate Reynolds’s $27.4 billion purchase of Lorillard. Crew will oversee $8.8 billion of Reynolds’s estimated $11 billion in post-merger sales and could succeed CEO Cameron."
No. 49 Sheri S. McCoy
CEO, Avon Products
"More than three years in, McCoy is still trying to fix the direct seller of beauty products—which has caused her to fall in our ranking. In 2014, Avon reported its third straight annual loss; the stock is down some 65% over the past year. Overseas, the company was hit by a strong U.S. dollar. And while the North American business is on track to be profitable this year, its army of Avon ladies is dwindling."
To read this article in its entirety, click here.