Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Sebi’s Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch, Sail Chairperson Soma Mondal, Biocon Chair Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, and Nykaa Founder and CEO Falguni Nayar were on the list of Forbes’ 100 Most Powerful Women.
Forbes ranked European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen first on the 19th annual Forbes list of the world’s 100 most powerful women for her leadership during the Ukraine war. European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde was ranked second, US Vice President Kamala Harris was ranked third, GM Motors Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra was ranked fourth, and Fidelity Investments CEO Abigail Johnson was ranked fifth.
Forbes said the list was determined by four main metrics: money, media, impact, and spheres of influence. For political leaders, we weighed gross domestic products and populations; for corporate leaders, revenues and employee counts; and for all, media mentions and reach. The result is a collection of women who are fighting the status quo. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman figures on the 36th position on the list, while the chairperson of Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is on the 54th position.
The other three also came from the business segment, with Sail Chair Soma Mondal on 67th position, Biocon Chair Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw on the 77th position, and Nykaa Founder and CEO Falguni Nayar on the 89th position. Forbes said the Union Finance Minister, who came from the political sphere, held roles at the UK-based Agricultural Engineers Association and BBC World Service before her career in politics. She has also served as a member of the National Commission for Women.
According to Forbes, Sebi, of which Puri Buch is the chair, oversees India’s more than $3 trillion stock market ecosystem. Puri Buch consulted for the New Development Bank in Shanghai and worked as a managing director and CEO at ICICI Securities. Forbes said Mondal has more than three decades of experience in the metals industry. After graduating from college with a degree in electrical engineering, she joined the state-run National Aluminium Co. Mazumdar-Shaw, one of India’s richest self-made women, founded India’s largest listed biopharmaceutical firm by revenue, in 1978.
The firm has successfully forayed into the lucrative US market, according to Forbes. Investment bankerturned-entrepreneur Falguni quit her job to start Nykaa, a retailer of beauty products, in 2012, as Forbes wrote about the former investment banker. Nykaa, which means “one in the spotlight,” currently sells more than 4,500 brands online as well as through more than 100 stores across India.