Most Powerful Women in Business 2007

I am 24 now and I have just made it my goal that by the time I am CEO of a company I will make the equivalent of my male counterpart.

I think it’s hilarious that the chairman of Bear Stearns, Allan Schwartz, makes more than the highest paid woman, “It’s a beautiful world we live in. . .for for you. . .”(Devo)

Yes, they have made a very good gain in corporate America, but they still do have a way to go. Presently, corporate America is lead by men. One of the main obstacles that women have to overcome is precisely gender discrimination. workonline</a.

Very simple solution, if it is made in China, leave it on the shelf, that is what I do. I do not buy it. I sometimes have to go to several stores but I usually find what I want.
I do not have any electronic, except my computer, a TV made in Mexico, and a radio that is 25 years old.
We have an administratin that will not enforce the trade laws that China keeps breaking, he is afraid to for he is a bully and bullies never take on anyone their size, it is always the little guys.

I work for a brokerage, and I will tell you, I don’t even make six figures and my bonus is under $5,000. That’s if I’m lucky enough to even get one. And our annual raises? 2% a year. Again…with the subprime lending crisis of 2007, we’ll be lucky to see either.

This list gives me the strengh in pursuing my career goals, its never too old to restart a professional life or start a new one, This is what makes the United States so Great and powerfull.. Is who you are, what you can do.. After years of dreaming going back to Colombia, I went for 8 months just to realize that as a women you are old a 35 and that I 40 you have to stick to your job because you are too old to deserve promotions, and the opportunity of a great career. I am glad to be back to the States and I wish men and women, politians, HR persons and business mens in my countries take a look at this amazing list!

I was really impressed about the female earnings until I saw how much their male counterparts take home. The only question that begs answering is : How long will it take for companies to realise that we as women are truly worth our salt. We’ve made significant progress but we clearly still have a long…. way to go.

This was shocking to see the vast gaps in salary. How can the most most powerful women in the business world make so much less than their male counterparts? Women have proven that they have the experience, skills, determination and education to run successful companies so should they not also be making equal pay?

On the other hand, is it not the worker bees that help implement these strategies to make the companies successful? Doesn’t anyone care that those some of those folks can barely make ends meet based on their pay?

I think it is a sad and disgusting reality that translates the same at all salary levels…women can still work twice as hard as men and get paid 1/5th as much…and men can’t even multi-task well…

I’ve worked for men most of my life. While I do believe I have been paid fairly for the work I’ve done. I do not believe that I have been paid equitably. I believe that society and our culture advocate that men should be paid more because they are considered “head of the household”. What has not caught up is the reality of our world - women are not only responsible for the children and the home, but we are now also expected to work outside the home, AND continue to run our households. It is exhausting - we are all tired, yet we still are successful and honestly, we complain very little. Frankly, in the end, it still all has to be done - and we have the determination to get it done - with our without a man in our lives…

Too many people in this country spend too much time worrying whether someone or some group makes more money than others. And worse, these same people spend way too much time worrying about how much money our corporate executives earn: frankly, unless they are one of the officers, directors or shareholders of the company, it’s none of their business. And what this nonsense tells me is that we have way too many people who are just plain jealous over the success achieved by many of our corporate executives. But instead of trying to increase thier personal wealth and/or improve their personal ability to earn money, these jealous people try, try and try to limit the amount of wealth others can earn and accumulate. Honestly, I don’t understand why it’s called “green with envy” because envy never put anything green in my pockets. Yet so many people in this great country are filled with envy instead good ideas. Could this be one of the reasons why the economies of other nations are growing so much faster than the U.S. economy? Instead of whining about how much money others are making, our compitition is busy trying to make as much money as they can - and apparently they are succeeding. Perhaps we should steal a page from their, our foreign competition’s, playbook and learn how to make more money for ourselves, instead of complaining so damn much about the good fortune of others. We might just discover that to earn you have to learn and be willing to take risks and that ultimately is the reason why so many of our corporate executives have been able to make so much money. It’s good for them and good for me becuase if they can do it, then I know I can too.

“It would be better if women just had simple jobs.” - Posted By Charlie B., Seattle, WA

That borders on being sexist, but there is some truth to that statement.

To all commenters whining about how obscene CEO salaries are:

Do you have any idea of the responsibilities placed on these people? They can lose their job simply by opening their mouth or even appearing unprofessional in the least.

Cut the “poor, honest, hard-working American” schtick! You people keep dredging up this class warfare crap. You act like it’s a bad thing that there are rich people in our country!

Women are not paid equally. I have experienced this first hand. I think the ignorant male bosses need to understand that this is not about muscle power, it’s about brain power.

More power to them–both men and women! This is America, where one can earn as much as someone else will pay. I don’t want limits placed on my income potential, and I don’t begrudge someone else earning all they can. Yes, there’s a gap. That’s life. If I were Zoe Cruz, I wouldn’t be complaining about my $30 mil a year!
And if we “tax the hell out of the uber-rich,” as one comment suggested, we will all be worse off. Those who have money will shelter it somewhere; they will not put it into the economy or into their companies. This will result in fewer jobs and lower pay for the non uber-rich, which includes most of the rest of us. A better idea is to tax people fairly across the board, kick the government out of our personal finances, and let free enterprise work. It’s simple Reagonomics, and it works every time it’s tried.

A Few comments:

1. The gap saddens me, but does not surprise me. I read the women’s list first and though wow, look at these women moving up. Then I read the men’s list and though WOW look at this gap. Not to mention look at the companyies they are heading - I didn’t see any men who worked at Penney’s, Macy’s, or Avon. But there were 4 of them on the women’s.

2. It is obsence that Bob Nardelli is paid out 98,000,000 in a severance package!! The company was going down the tubes and so they pay him that much to leave!! Overall the salaries are rediculous and NO I don’t want to make that much money. I don’t think there is any need for anyone to make that much money instead they can put that money back into their products or services and make whatever it is they offer more affordable for more people. Pay their lower paid employees a little bit more so they can purchase what everyone else is now selling for a more affordable price.

It’s the concentration of wealth that is disgusting!!!

The woman are fairly paid, the men are grossly overpaid.

The men’s salaries are obscene, the women’s only a little less so. And all this while the average American family is struggling just to get by, with both parents working like dogs.

No one is worth a hundred or five hundred times the salary of the millions of people who do the real work in this country; that’s just plain common sense. It’s time to give the working stiffs a break, and to tax the hell out of the uber-rich.

It’s pathetic that any of them are making that kind of money. How much does a neurosurgeon or heart specialist make annually? Not anywhere near that! And their decisions are life and death decisions.

As a professional woman I found I only started making the same or more than my male counterparts when I asked for that pay when hiring negotiations were conducted. Because my experience backed up my salary request, I received the proper pay. Don’t get me wrong, I was not offered the pay I deserved in some situations. These were not jobs I took unless that experience would benefit me. Invariably, I rose in the ranks or moved to another job after a year. Many fortune 500’s are now valuing women as equals to their male counterparts. As women, we must research carefully what the salary ranges are for positions and negotiate accordingly. If we do not, we will continue to lag behind the men. Companies will not offer you more money if you do not demand what your worth. That is your job.

ANY CEO pay that exceeds 50 times the average of the employees salary of the company they manage, whether Man or Woman, should be Taxed at 90% and a corporate surtax applied on corporat earnings at the same percentage as the CEO’s salary exceeds the “50X” number. Hell yes woman are getting short changed but there is a much bigger problem here. (And I’m a Republican)

I had to laugh when I read this poll question. Why is it even being discussed? It would be much more worthwhile to discuss why these people deserve such disgusting sums of money and “golden parachutes”, while the “little people” (read: both men and women) actually doing the work for the company are getting squat in comarison. What about that disparity? Executive pay & bonuses are all amout one thing: power and an overinflated ego. Seems like it is conveniently being ignored…

I think women need to exit the work place…These companies obviosuly hired them because they are “cheap” labor.

#25 on the Men, makes more than #1 for the women… Wmoen have driven down the salaries by FLOODING the workplace… simple calculation of supply and demand… Too many people are working. It would be better if women just had simple jobs.

I’m very proud of Fortune’s 2007 list. One of our own Lisa Weber is an outstanding example of hard work and dedication. I feel our next generation of successful women will reflect a more since of compassion such as Lisa has within her title as a trustee of the Northeast’s Region Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Step aside world goods hearts and hard work are taking over! - Misty Barry Tampa, FL

How can you call these salaries an honest paycheck. This is palin highway robbery and flagrant theft. It would surprise me to see some of these individuals get invistigated and found guilty of corruption some day.

Well , its unfair but at the same time there is no female ceo in Goldman Sachs .Maybe the comopanies the women head their profit margins are not the same as the men

These compensation packages are absurd.The brokerage houses seem to fill alot of spots.I still can’t believe the numbers that I saw on these pages.Ouch!

Clearly this list shows that women still have a long way to go. Pay rates themselves aside, does the highest paid female CEO gets paid less than the last male CEO on your list! Either these women are not worth as much to employers, or they are not in highly paid industries. Either way, the inequity is there, ridiculous, and a huge social problem.

Who cares, the population overload of women on the street compared to men is at an estimated one-millon (2006 times report). This gives women all the dominion over the male and in all fairness coming from a woman noone at the top cares about the little guys ~just the boss overhead!

I feel the ladies are getting more than enough. After all Men should be paid more..why? Because we are the leaders of the world!!
I don`t mean to be rude to the Ladies, but that is how I see it!

“I would have to work 1763 years to make what Home Depot’s Bob Nardelli makes! Does that seem right???” - Posted By Tom, Atlanta Georgia

I see nothing wrong with Nardelli’s pay.

People should not get mad that others get paid much more than they do. If people want to make as much as a CEOs, then they should aspire to be CEOs. It makes no sense for average workers to compare their salaries to those of executives. We all know that executives do less manual labor than rank-and-file workers and get paid more money.

Here are some examples of similar jobs that pay differently:

National news anchor >>> local news anchor
NFL Coach >>> Little league coach
College professor >>> elementary school teacher

Would it make a difference if the people who were paid more got a paycut? Would a paycut for the higher earners make those who make less happier? If you love what you do for a living, why do you complain about how much others are making?

There is a gap - but it isn’t $100M. It is actually $30M. If you notice - all the “rich” top 5 of men are actually former CEO - or fired. So what does that say? I am not sure comparing the 25 highest paid men and women can really show a pay gap that the rest of America should be concerned about.

I say good for them. If you look at most of these people they are fairly ordinary but were able to step out of their comfort zones and excel at what they do. I don’t begrudge them one bit. If you want the “obscene” salary then get yourself there.

This ‘gap’ is a disgrace. This good-ol-boy mentality that men come before women in the workforce is a kick in the face of all women that have gained equal experience, education, common sense and skill. These businesses affect us ‘our economy’ regardless of the product produced. Pay=responsibility and keeping a fortune 500 company, or any other large corp., on point requires talent, so are men more talented than women? men=women; women=men; leaders are leaders; leave gender for the restrooms not the workforce. Women deserve equal pay.
Think for Yourself, Question Authority

Clearly, the contributions of men in business are still more highly valued than women. Unfair or not, that’s just the way it is and not likely to change anytime soon.

If you ask me, the pay these people make, men or women, is obscene. And management wonders why their is resentment among employees on the “front line” when we take pay and benefit cuts. I would have to work 1763 years to make what Home Depot’s Bob Nardelli makes! Does that seem right???

There is nothing impressive about excessive pay structures such as these. None of these examples, men or women, are leaders. A real leader would do the job for “normal” multiple of the average worker salary…say 2.5 million or so. These people and their cronies have been taken advantage of their positions as CEOs, directors, etc. and have lined their greedy little pockets. It would be refreshing to see CEO work for a living.

wow the gap seems pretty large. I am not sure if they are listed from highest paid to lowest paid but the gap seems to be 100 million. As far as being paid fairly I don’t think these salaries if we could call them that are fair eithher to men or women when compared to the workforce under them.

I don’t think women are paid fairly. I really don’t understand why… but this is our reality

It’s still mind blowing to me that women are clearly underpaid and it is widely accepted. If firms had to open their books and show the discrepancies, I think things would be different.

This is a gross misappropriation of funds

The gap between male & female executive compensation is obscene. There is no justification for it other than sexism, as we all know women work just as hard as if not harder than men to prove their worth in corporate America.

I think women are unfairly treated. Doing the same job, getting the same results but get half the pay. What a shame!

Are women paid fairly? Are they rewarded at work equally?

Do you think women have made impressive gains in corporate America, or do they have a long way to go?

What do you think of Fortune’s list this year?