Fortune Most Powerful Women

Rent the Runway hit 15 years old last month. At the helm of the business still is CEO Jenn Hyman, who cofounded the clothing rental service when she was a 27-year-old business school student. https://lnkd.in/e9craCzR Hyman has seen Rent the Runway through its highs—like the late 2010s, when its unlimited subscription service had started to become ubiquitous in certain markets—and its lows, like the cratering of its business during COVID shortly thereafter. In the years since, Rent the Runway has struggled, and a true attempt at a turnaround is still in its early days. Through it all, Hyman has asked herself two questions to determine if she should remain at the helm of the business: Is she tired? And, more importantly, “Do I still believe?” Read more here: https://lnkd.in/e9craCzR

“The chief merchant leads the personal shoppers of America.” Latriece Watkins, is the chief merchant at Walmart U.S., the company’s biggest division at 69% of its $650 billion in sales; Megan Crozier, is the chief merchant at Sam’s Club; and Andrea Albright, whose responsibilities include serving as executive vice president for sourcing at Walmart. While a successful holiday season takes a village—including COOs to make sure items move through a retailer’s system efficiently, CFOs to manage money in a healthy way, and CTOs to ensure the IT systems sing together—the chief merchant’s role is particularly important. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/e_HnkHhN

The L’Oréal family’s heiress, Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, closed 2023 on a high note as the first woman whose fortune notched $100 billion. https://lnkd.in/dcQDGf_G But the tables have turned in 2024 as Bettencourt Meyers becomes among the billionaires to lose the most wealth this year—second only to fellow French magnate Bernard Arnault. The 71-year-old vice chair of L’Oréal’s board has seen her wealth nosedive by $26 billion to about $74 billion since the start of the year, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/dcQDGf_G

Great article in Fortune that features three of our leaders – our Chief Merchant for Walmart U.S., Latriece Watkins, our Chief Merchant for Sam's Club, Megan Crozier, and Andrea Albright, our EVP of Sourcing. Together, with their teams, they are contributing this holiday season in ensuring we have great items across our stores and online, allowing us to deliver on our purpose of saving people money so they can live better. We are fortunate to be an academy of incredible leadership talent. #TeamWalmart #Leadership   https://lnkd.in/gvFW6SWe

Bozoma Saint John is known for building the brands of some of the world’s most influential companies; Apple, Uber, Netflix, and more. ⁠https://lnkd.in/dzr-t4gT ⁠ For the first time, the former CMO is now building a brand of her own, Fortune is the first to report. Yesterday, Saint John is launched Eve by Boz, a line of wigs and haircare products.⁠ ⁠ “There’s really no voice in the production process for women of color and Black women, who are the ones who are consuming a majority of the product,” she says. ⁠ Read more here: https://lnkd.in/dzr-t4gT

When basketball stars like Sue Bird retire, they may not use their killer crossover or lethal jump shot in the “real world,” but one skill that will continue to serve them well (and which many civilians lack) is teamwork. https://lnkd.in/eyHqhxWU During an audience Q&A at the #FortuneMPW Summit, an attendee asked the WNBA legend what skills from her playing days she’d found most useful off the court. Bird pointed to a litany of skills that she had developed over a lifetime of playing basketball. That said, one skill—teamwork—stood out more than any other for its ability to help people find common ground. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/eyHqhxWU

In her decade at the helm of General Motors, Mary Barra has been tasked with modernizing a century-plus-old automobile company while righting the ship after a bankruptcy and ignition switch scandal threatened the historic carmaker’s future. https://lnkd.in/e8RSD4Ws It’s not an easy role, and one in which Barra has experienced myriad successes and setbacks. Barra is No. 1 on Fortune’s Most Power Women ranking this year, a spot she’s held three other times since becoming the first female CEO of a global automaker. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/e8RSD4Ws

What would you do if you had a six-figure salary? Perhaps you’d never cook another meal again or indulge in a monthly Thai massage and a Soho House membership to unwind from the stress that comes with being at your A game. https://lnkd.in/efTBCwNb Here at The Good Life you don’t have to imagine what life at the top looks like anymore: Get real-life inspiration for how the most successful live their lives. In January 2021, the brand became a social media sensation, with slime-obsessed Gen Zers flocking to try out the mochi-inspired snack—and it’s unusual texture—for the first time. In the week after going viral on TikTok, sales of Little Moons at the British supermarket giant Tesco surged by 700%. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/efTBCwNb

The Offseason, a docuseries—made by National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) forward Midge Purce and Alexis Ohanian Sr.’s VC firm Seven Seven Six 7️⃣7️⃣6️⃣—follows a Miami house full of NWSL players in their offseason. https://lnkd.in/esQHrx7J Ohanian’s Seven Seven Six backed The Offseason, the final episode of which just dropped last week. “The world of sports media has been by and for men, for 100 years anyway,” said Ohanian. “This was a chance to put on display stars from this league, and tell a story that’s never been told before.” Ohanian, the founding principal owner of NWSL expansion team Angel City FC and still an investor in the club, believes women’s sports can kick back venture-scale returns, in part because of just how under-invested in the space is. There’s a chance to build new infrastructure, he says. Read the full story here: https://lnkd.in/esQHrx7J

There are 18 women out of 100 people on the #Fortune100MostPowerful list—a reflection of the realities of the business world, where women run about 10% of Fortune 500 companies. The top-ranked woman is GM CEO Mary Barra, at No. 9, who was No. 1 on this year’s MPW list (and on the cover of Fortune’s October issue). Read more: https://lnkd.in/e3dGk2ed