Only Two Black Women on Fortune’s 2008 List of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business

Chairman, Harpo and billionaire Oprah Winfrey (No. 8), is once again the highest racking black woman on  on the Fortune magazine list of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business. Ursula Burns, President, Xerox (No. 10), is the only other black woman to make this years list.

Fortune ranked these women at for-profit companies based on the size, importance, and health of their business in the global economy; career momentum; and social and cultural influence. The complete list and accompanying stories appear in the October 13 issue of Fortune, available on newsstands October 6.

Rounding out the top ten are: Irene Rosenfeld, Chairman and CEO, Kraft Foods (No. 2); Pat Woertz, Chairman, CEO, and President, Archer Daniels Midland (No. 3); Anne Mulcahy, Chairman and CEO, Xerox (No. 4); Angela Braly, President and CEO, Wellpoint (No. 5); Andrea Jung, Chairman and CEO, Avon Products (No. 6); Susan Arnold, President, Global Business Units, Procter & Gamble (No. 7); Brenda Barnes, Chairman and CEO, Sara Lee (No. 9).

“Perhaps the only thing more challenging than the business environment this year was the criteria for making the list,” Fortune editor-at-large Patricia Sellers says in the introduction to the list. “The list was our most competitive yet.”

New arrivals to the 2008 list include: Susan Chambers, EVP, Global People Division, Wal-Mart (No. 25); Meredith Whitney, Managing Director and Senior Financial Institutions Analyst, Oppenheimer & Co. (No. 35); Sherilyn McCoy, Worldwide Chairman, Surgical CareGroup, Johnson & Johnson (No. 44); Gail Boudreaux, President, United HealthCare and EVP, United HealthGroup (No. 45); Lorrie Norrington, CEO, Marketplace Operations, eBay (No. 46); Terri Dial, CEO, U.S. Consumer Bank, Citigroup (No. 47); Lynn Elsenhans, CEO and President, Sunoco (No. 48); and Marissa Mayor, Vice President, Search Products and User Experience, Google (No. 50).

Several high-profile women have dropped off the list. Among the twelve women: Meg Whitman, President and CEO, eBay; Sallie Krawcheck, Chairman and CEO, Global Wealth Management, Citigroup; Christine Poon, Vice Chairman, Johnson & Johnson; Shelly Lazarus, CEO (but still Chairman), Ogilvy Worldwide; Dawn Hudson, President and CEO, Pepsi-Cola North America, PepsiCo.; Linda Dillman, EVP, Risk Management, Benefits, and Sustainability, Wal-Mart Stores; and Zoe Cruz, Co-President, Morgan Stanley.

The publication of the list coincides with Fortune’s tenth annual Most Powerful Women Summit, the premier gathering of women leaders in business, government, academia, philanthropy and the arts, which will be held October 1-3 in North San Diego, California. The theme of this year’s summit is “Extraordinary Talent” and highlights include: a conversation with Fortune’s Carol Loomis and Warren Buffett, Chairman and CEO, Berkshire Hathaway Inc.; a conversation with Time Inc. Chairman and CEO Ann Moore and Indra Nooyi (No. 1 on this year’s list); yoga with Martha Stewart; bridge with Warren Buffet; Wii Olympics; and a celebration of the FORTUNE/U.S. State Department Mentoring Partnership and The Goldman Sachs/FORTUNE Global Women Leaders Award.

SOURCE: Fortune magazine