Women run a record 11.2% of Fortune 500 companies in 2026—but the gain came in a year of high-profile exits

Even in a turbulent year at the top, a record 56 women lead Fortune 500 companies in 2026, 11.2% of the newest ranking of America’s largest businesses by revenue. That’s the highest share in the list’s 72-year history and the fourth consecutive year the figure has cleared double digits.

Still, several Fortune 500 CEOs including Oracle’s Safra Catz, Fannie Mae’s Priscilla Almodovar, and Hershey’s Michele Buck exited their corner offices in a span of weeks during the fall. Almodovar’s departure left the Fortune 500 without a Latina CEO for the first time since she took the job in 2022.

Then, SAIC’s Toni Townes-Whitley stepped down in October, briefly narrowing the ranks of Black women running Fortune 500 companies to just one (TIAA’s Thasunda Brown Duckett) until the September 2025 addition of DTE Energy CEO Joi Harris.

Meanwhile, Foot Locker’s Mary Dillon is no longer ranked among Fortune........

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