New York (CNN Business)Citigroup just hired Jane Fraser as its next CEO, the first woman to lead a major US bank and the 39th female chief executive on the Fortune 500 list.
The history-making announcement Thursday from Citigroup elevates Fraser from her current role leading Citi’s consumer bank. Fraser joins just 38 other women on the largely white and male Fortune 500 CEO list.
Last month, Linda Rendle became the 38th when Clorox announced her as the new chief executive. She takes the helm on Monday. The figure is inching up, but women still represent only 7.8% of the Fortune 500 CEO list, highlighting the slow pace of change at the highest levels of business. Read MoreWomen have been on the list for 48 years, ever since Katharine Graham became chief executive of The Washington Post in 1972.A tiny fraction — less than 1% — of Fortune 500 companies have Black CEOs. And only three women on the list of Fortune 500 female CEOs are women of color, according to Fortune. Those women are Sonia Syngal, the CEO of Gap Inc. (GPS), Lisa Su, the CEO of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Joey Wat, the CEO of Yum China (YUMC).More women have climbed the ranks this year, but at the same time, some veterans have stepped down from their posts.
In June, Marillyn Hewson stepped down from her role as Lockheed Martin’s CEO after more than seven years. She is now the executive chairman of the board.Ginni Rometty retired as CEO of IBM (IBM), Cheryl Miller took a medical leave from her role as CEO at AutoNation (AN), and Kathryn Marinello resigned from her role as Hertz’s (HTZ) CEO.
Source: edition.cnn.com