CEOs of the Fortune 500 are overwhelmingly white, straight, and male. Women, women of color, women born outside of the United States, and LGBT women are underrepresented.
Because of the difficulty of verifying an individual’s race and ethnicity, Catalyst is unable to provide specific data points around women of color and white CEOs. However, we have collected examples from reliable news sources of women of color CEOs of the Fortune 500, past and present.
- Ursula Burns, CEO of Xerox Corporation from 2009–2017, was the first Black woman to ever serve as CEO of a Fortune 500 company.
- Andrea Jung, CEO of Avon Products from 1999–2011, is of Asian descent.
- Laura Sen, CEO of BJ’s Wholesale Club from 2009–2016, is multiracial, of Irish and Chinese descent.
- Lisa Su, CEO of Advanced Micro Devices since 2014, was born in Taiwan.
- Sonia Syngal, CEO of Gap Inc. since 2020, is of Indian descent.
- Joey Wat, CEO of Yum China Holdings since 2017, was born in China.
- Geisha Williams, CEO of PG&E from 2017–2019, was the first Latina CEO of a Fortune 500 company.
- Mary Winston, Interim CEO of Bed Bath & Beyond from May 2019–November 2019, was the second Black woman to serve as CEO of a Fortune 500 company.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) CEOs are also extremely rare.
- Beth Ford, CEO of Land O’Lakes since August 1, 2018, is the first openly gay woman to serve as CEO of a Fortune 500 company.
Current women of color who are CEOs of the S&P 500 include:
- Lisa Su, CEO of Advanced Micro Devices since 2014, was born in Taiwan.
- Sonia Syngal, CEO of Gap Inc. since 2020, is of Indian descent.
- Jayshree Ullal, CEO of Arista Networks, Inc. since 2008, is Indian-American.
How to cite this product: Catalyst, CEOs in Underrepresented Groups (April 1, 2020).