Westpac Banking Corporation chief executive Gail Kelly has been named the world's eighth most powerful woman, just one day after figures highlighted the lack of female heavyweights in Australian businesses.
Ms Kelly, 54, is seen as an exception in Australian boardrooms, where women make up just over eight per cent of directors in ASX200-listed firms.
When she took over as chief executive of Westpac in 2008, Ms Kelly was the first Australian woman to lead a top-four bank and the first female chief executive of a top 10 Australian company.
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Only one other Australian made Forbes magazine's Top 100 most powerful women list this year, with Prime Minister Julia Gillard ranking 58.
The list covered areas such as politics, media and business, and took into account creative influence and entrepreneurship, as well as wealth and executive position.
US First Lady Michelle Obama was crowned number one, followed by Kraft Foods chief executive Irene Rosenfeld and TV personality Oprah Winfrey.
Last year's first place winner, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, dropped to number four, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton jumped 31 spots to number five and PepsiCo chief executive Indra Nooyi came in at sixth place.
Ms Kelly was up 10 spots from last year and wedged between seventh placed Lady Gaga and number nine Beyonce Knowles, both singers, while talk show host Ellen DeGeneres nabbed 10th place.
Even before taking over as Westpac's chief executive in 2008, Ms Kelly was seen as an influential force in the male-dominated world of Australian business.
Figures showed that Ms Kelly nearly tripled net profit at St George Bank during her six years as chief executive.
The same year she moved to Westpac, Ms Kelly spearheaded the $15 billion merger with St George, which boosted Westpac to become Australia's second biggest lender from third.
But the South African-born Ms Kelly is the exception rather than the rule.
The Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplaces (EOWA) census of women in leadership, released on Wednesday, showed that just 8.4 per cent of directors of ASX200 companies were female.
Moreover, there were only six female chief executives and five women chairs.
(source:smh.com.au)
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