IBM President-CEO Ginni Rometty (pictured) is at the top of Fortune’s 2012 “50 Most Powerful Women” list for 2012. She’s followed by Pepsico Chairman-CEO Indra Nooyi and Hewlett-Packard Chairman-CEO Meg Whitman. Oprah Winfrey is No. 50. The average age of these women executives is just above 53. That’s right in line with the findings of Reagan Consulting’s Leadership Series 2011 CEO Survey, which found the average age of top CEOs (of both genders) in the U.S. to be 53. It also found that 24% of CEOs were age 50 or younger. Among Fortune’s list of powerful women, 14 (or 28%) are age 50 or younger. The youngest is Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, who is 37.
Where the list of powerful women may deviate from the CEO study is in tenure. Reagan Consulting’s study finds that CEOs average 11 years in that role. By contrast, many of the women on Fortune’s list are fairly new to the top jobs they hold. IBM’s Rometty, for example, became CEO earlier this year.
To see the complete list of Fortune’s “50 Most Powerful Women,” go here.
Join the GlassCeiling.com conversation. Do you think it is significant that Fortune’s top 50 women are, on average, no older or younger than all top CEOs? Does it mean women do not need to wait longer to reach the top? Join the GlassCeiling.com conversation and share your observations.
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