Girl power

By: Olly Wehring - 1 September 2006 17:11

Indra Nooyi, the chief executive-designate at PepsiCo, has received a welcome fillip as she prepares to take the top job at the soft drinks giant.

Forbes magazine has named Nooyi as one of the most powerful women in the world.

Nooyi, who will become Pepsi’s CEO on 1 October, was fourth in the list of the most powerful women on the planet.

The only women above her on the list were the Chinese vice-premier Wu Yi, US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice and at number one, German chancellor Angela Merkel.

And it seems that women have arrived on the wider corporate stage. A total of 48 women on Forbes’ list now run businesses either as chief executives or chairmen, up from 35 last year.