Women, what can we do without them?

Sometimes my stack of Fortune Magazine which I have not stopped subscribing to for years now lie untouched for a while until I have the time to lounge and go through all the unopened ones meticulously until I am current once again with what’s happening in the global business world. It has been a constant source of information for me, a pleasant read in fact when the brain is in absorbing mode!

The latest Asia Pacific edition has several pages devoted to Oprah Winfrey, she who doesn’t need a last name. Though I have a sketchy idea of how big she has become, the article on her was nevertheless revealing and showed that she, indeed, deserves to be an icon.

The whole edition was devoted to the world’s most powerful women, and big though she is, she only managed to land no.6 in the short list of the Most Powerful Women in Business (in the U.S.). Topping the list is PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Indira Nooyi, 54, followed by Kraft Foods Chairman and CEO Irene Rosenfeld, 57 and in third place is Archer Daniels Midland (an agricultural firm) Chairman, President and CEO Patricia Woertz, 57.

Also preceding Oprah at no. 4 place is Angela Braly, 50, Chairman, President, and CEO of WellPoint (a health insurance firm) and in 5th is Andrea Jung, 52, Chairman and CEO of Avon Products.

Going through the list, it was interesting to note that many of these power-driven women came from traditional domains of the macho male. I am talking of companies like Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics. Lockheed’s EVP for Electronic System is Marilyn Hewson,56 (no. 32 on the list), and she has full run of her division which includes strike weapons and radar. Lockheed Martin is the largest IT provider to the US government, and heading the unit is EVP Linda Gooden, 57 (no. 33). General Dynamics, on the other hand has a division that builds submarines and surface ships, and a lady, Phoebe Novakovic, 52 (no.49) sits at the helm as EVP.

That women are slowly and surely taking their place in a hitherto male-dominated business stage in the global arena is definite. In the United States, companies that are close to home like Yahoo, Oracle, Disney Media Networks, Facebook, Johnson & Johnson, Reynolds American Tobacco, McDonalds USA; GlaxoSmithKline, Procter & Gamble, eBay Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Wal-Mart Stores are all ruled by women.

The youngest in this group of 50 women dominating business in America is Marissa Mayer, 35 years old and VP for Search Products and User Experience of search engine Google, while the oldest is Linda Hudson at 60, President and CEO of BAE Systems, a major US defense company. She is an engineer by profession and holds the distinction of being the first female to head the firm, after only four years on the job.

On the International Power 50 list, I was happy to see our own Ms. Tessie Sy-Coson , Vice-Chairperson, SM Investments. Last year, Ms. Sy-Coson also made it to the list in no. 40, though now she’s in no. 42, still the only Filipina in the highly prestigious list. Kudos for a well-deserved inclusion!

Topping the international list is Cynthia Carroll, CEO of Anglo-American, Britain, followed by Gail Kelly, CEO and Managing Director, Westpac, Australia, and on third place is Marjorie Scardino, CEO, Pearson, Britain. The Asians in the list, aside from Tessie Sy-Coson are Ho Ching, Exec. Director and CEO, Temasek, Singapore; Chanda Kochnar, Managing Director and CEO, ICICI Bank, India;Chua Sock Koong, CEO, Singapore Telecommunications, Singapore; Yang Mianmian, president, Haier Group, China. Deborah Henretta, Group President, Asia, Procter & Gamble, Singapore. A total of 16 out of the 50 most powerful women in business in the international list are Asians, seven from China, four from India, and three from Singapore.

As Fortune points out, the emerging markets in Asia have given these women the opportunity to strike out on their own, and there were quite a few from China who are new in the list.

Going back to Oprah, this lady topped American daytime TV in the 25 years that she has been in the broadcast media, and announced her retirement about a year prior to her eponymous show’s last airing on Jan. 2011, perhaps to give her vast audience across the globe time enough to chew on the bad news. Oprah, the TV show, is widely regarded as the most lucrative of all syndicated shows, and she can make an obscure product or person an overnight success. Remember Dr. Phil, the psychologist, and 30-minute chef Rachel Ray who now have a wide following on their own TV shows? Oprah has gotten so much credibility that she clinched a deal with General Motors to give away Pontiac G6 sedans to 275 audience members in one day.

She is not going to be missed on the big tube, however, as she is moving to cable TV (which is reputed to give as much as 50 percent profit margins) in partnership with Discovery Communications which is best known for its non-fiction programming like the Discovery Networks and Animal Planet. In contrast, Martha Stewart, another American icon moved her show to the Hallmark Channel where she is not faring out as well, with dwindling viewership.

OWN, reportedly with a $100 Million funding from Discovery, with Oprah not having to put in any money of her own except to lend her full commitment to the network and her big presence on the screen, launches early next year. Its line-up of shows include her own Master Class where she will appear herself and deal with top achievers like pals Simon Cowell and Condoleeza Rice; a talk show with controversial Rosie O’Donnell; Oprah’s Next Chapter; Your Own Show, a talent search where contestants vie to have their own talk show on television; and a 6-part series on Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, starring Sarah herself. The mini- series will dwell on Sarah’s struggles after royal life when she has become plain citizen Sarah.

Already, OWN has signed up advertisers that include General Motors and Nissan, Kohl’s Department Store and over $100 Million advertising contract from Procter & Gamble spread over three years.

All set to hang up her gloves and kick in her shoes, Oprah now seems to have merely turned a page in her colorful autobiography. Her net worth is estimated at $3 billion, she has a 1,400-acre ranch in Hawaii, a 42-acre estate in Montecito, California, and 13,000 square-foot apartment in Michigan Avenue in Chicago which has been her home base for several years now. Much has happened in her life since she started in local station AM Chicago in 1984. Her boss then, Tim Bennett, became president of her company Harpo till he retired this year. She is still with her long-time boyfriend, Stedman Graham, and though she has remained childless, Oprah, who has become a brand in herself, seems to be living a very full life.

Mabuhay!!! Be proud to be a Filipino.    

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