Good morning, Broadsheet readers! 23andMe says no to CEO Anne Wojcicki’s take-private offer, Vice President Kamala Harris raised a record $310 million this July, and women lose a bit of ground on the Global 500. Have a mindful Monday.
– Going global. Women run 5.6% of businesses on this year’s Global 500—down from 5.8% this time a year ago. In total, female CEOs lead just 28 out of 500 companies on the list of the world’s largest businesses by revenue.
That lags behind the Fortune 500, which measures the largest U.S.-based companies by revenue. There, women have crossed the 10% threshold and now run 10.4% of Fortune 500 businesses. On this year’s Fortune 500, the share of businesses led by female CEOs stayed flat from a year prior.
In total, the 2024 Global 500 list accounts for $41 trillion in annual revenue. That gargantuan number shows how important leadership of these businesses is—these 500 CEOs are responsible for one-third of global GDP.
And as the share of female CEOs fell, profits rose. The Global 500 counted $2.97 trillion in earnings, up 2% from a year earlier. Financial and tech firms accounts for much of that growth, as profits fell in the energy sector.
Female chiefs of the Global 500 include many familiar names from the Fortune 500, as some of those companies appear on both lists. Those executives include Fannie Mae CEO Priscilla Almodovar, UPS CEO Carol Tomé, CVS Health CEO Karen Lynch, Citi CEO Jane Fraser, Centene CEO Sarah London, TIAA CEO Thasunda Brown Duckett, and GM chief Mary Barra.
Those executives lead the pack—with 15 female Global 500 CEOs, the U.S. has more women leaders of its Global 500 businesses than any nation. It’s followed by France with four, and Brazil, China, and the U.K. with two each.
Leaders of businesses based outside the U.S. include Magda Chambriard, a new chief this year for Brazilian oil businesses Petrobras, and Banco de Brasil president Tarciana Paula Gomes Medeiros; Vodafone chief Margherita della Valle; GSK CEO Emma Walmsley; Luxshare cofounder and chair Grace Wang; JD.com chief Sandy Ran Xu; and French banking group Crédit Mutuel chief Isabelle Ferrand.
Some longtime members of this cohort don’t appear this year; for example, Jessica Tan left her role as group co-CEO of Ping An at the end of 2023.
For more on the Global 500, see this year’s full list here.
Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
The Broadsheet is Fortune’s newsletter for and about the world’s most powerful women. Today’s edition was curated by Nina Ajemian. Subscribe here.
ALSO IN THE HEADLINES
- Not enough for us. 23andMe, the DNA-testing company, turned down CEO Anne Wojcicki’s offer to take the company private. A special committee said her offer to acquire all of the company’s outstanding shares for $0.40 each was inadequate. Reuters
- Funds are flowing. Vice President Kamala Harris raised $310 million in July, “the best grassroots fundraising month in presidential history,” according to her campaign. In comparison, Donald Trump raised $138.7 million in July. She also secured enough delegate votes to become the Democratic Party’s official nominee. Bloomberg
- Fight on. Women’s boxing is at the center of an Olympic controversy as some object to the participation of two athletes (Imane Khelif of Algeria and Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan) who have been disqualified over “gender tests” in the past. However, the sport has a new governing body and the International Olympic Committee has questioned the process that disqualified the athletes from other competitions. NPR
- Hello, women’s health. Hello Cake, a sexual health company, is launching two prescription medications for women’s sexual dysfunction—a dissolvable tablet and a topical cream. The startup seeks to meet the demand for products catered to women, 43% of whom are impacted by sexual dysfunction, versus 31% of men. Fast Company
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency named Lisa Einstein chief artificial intelligence officer, a brand-new role. Previously at CISA, Einstein was senior advisor for AI and executive director of CISA’s cybersecurity advisory committee.
Duo Health hired Kristen Warden as president and chief operations officer. Most recently, Warden was chief operating officer at ConcertoCare.
Bonhams named Chabi Nouri global chief executive officer. Most recently, Nouri was a private equity partner at Mirabaud Asset Management and a group strategic advisor for Mirabaud Group.
ON MY RADAR
An Eric Schmidt investment firm crumbles after mismanagement, soured romance The Information
Helen Toner on the OpenAI coup: ‘It was about trust and accountability’ Financial Times
Ava DuVernay remakes Hollywood’s money model Forbes
PARTING WORDS
“[I]t’s 2024 and we’re just doing this?”
— Olympian Allyson Felix on establishing the first Olympic Village nursery
