Gail Kelly is an Australian and South African business person. In 2002 she became the first woman CEO of a major Australian bank or top 15 company and, as at 2005, was the highest paid woman at an Australian corporation.
She has recently taken up the position of CEO at Westpac.
In August 2008 Forbes ranked her the 11th most powerful woman in the world.
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Christine Lagarde is the current Minister of Economic Affairs, Industry and Employment of France, appointed in June 2007.
She was previously Minister of Agriculture and Fishing and Minister of Trade in the government of Dominique de Villepin.
Lagarde is the first woman ever to become minister of Economic Affairs of a G8 economy.
In 2008, Lagarde was ranked the 14th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes Magazine. A noted antitrust and labour lawyer, Lagarde made history as the first female chairman of the international law firm Baker & McKenzie.
She has been awarded France's highest honor, the Légion d'honneur.
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Safra A. Catz is an Israeli - American manager, has been the Chief Financial Officer of Oracle Corporation since November 2005. She has also been a President of the company since January 2004 and a member of the company's Board of Directors since October 2001.
She has been at Oracle Corporation since April 1999. She became the non-executive Director of HSBC Group since May 2008.
Prior to joining Oracle, Catz was at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, a global investment bank, where she was a Managing Director from 1997 and had previously held various investment banking positions since 1986.
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Anne M. Mulcahy is the former chairman and chief executive officer of Xerox Corporation. She was named CEO of Xerox on August 1, 2001, and chairman on January 1, 2002. In addition to the Xerox board, she has been a member of the boards of directors of Catalyst, Citigroup Inc., Fuji Xerox Co. Ltd. and Target Corporation.
The Wall Street Journal named Mulcahy one of 50 women to watch in 2005 and Forbes Magazine ranked her at the sixth position among the Most Powerful Women in America in 2005. In 2008, she was selected by U.S. News & World Report as one of America's Best Leaders.
She has been selected as 'CEO of the Year 2008' by Chief Executive magazine. She announced her retirement as CEO on 21 May 2009 prior to the company's annual shareholder meeting.
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Sonia Gandhi is the Italian-born President of the Indian National Congress and the widow of former Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi. She also serves as the Chairperson of the ruling United Progressive Alliance in the Lok Sabha and the leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party.
An influential person in Indian politics, she was named the third most powerful woman in the world by Forbes magazine in the year 2004 and was ranked 6th in 2007.
She was also named among the Time 100 most influential people in the world for the years 2007 and 2008.
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The World’s Most Powerful Women 2009