GM CEO Mary Barra topped Fortune's list of 50 most powerful women in business this year.
Mary Barra is on a roll. She took over as CEO of GM in January, celebrated as two GM products captured prestigious awards and escorted Vice President Joe Biden around the GM exhibit during the Detroit Auto Show.
Now, Fortune magazine has named her the “Most Powerful Woman in Business” today.
Barra tops this year’s list of the 50 most powerful women in a global ranking topping Ginni Rometty, chairwoman, CEO and president of IBM at No. 2, Indra Nooyi, chair and CEO of Pepsi at third, Maria das Graças Silva Foster, CEO of Petrobras as No. 4, and Ellen Kullman chair and CEO of DuPont at No. 5.
Fortune said it considered the size and importance of a business, the company’s health and overall momentum and the leader’s career, placing emphasis on the international scope of the operation under the executive and standing in the worldwide business community.
A GM lifer, Barra assumed the CEO role on Jan. 15 after spending her entire career at the automaker after graduating from General Motors Institute (now known as Kettering University). Prior to taking the leadership reins, she was head of global product development, purchasing, and supply chain.
(GM sees revenue rise in Q4 and full year 2013. For more, Click Here.)
Recently she told the magazine in an interview that she’d never asked for a promotion or a raise and that being committed to the job you have at that moment is basically the key to success. That ethic has gained her a fan: Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, which holds 40 million shares of GM stock.
(Click Here to see the latest about GM’s new joint venture for diesel engines.)
“I hope that Mary Barra turns out to be the Alfred Sloan of the 21st century,” said Buffett. “From what I’ve seen, she’s got the goods.”