Press Release

Corporate Women Directors International 2004 Report:
"Women Board Directors of the Fortune Global 200 Companies"

Key Findings

  • The majority (73.5%) of the 200 largest companies in the world, as ranked by Fortune in 2004, have at least one woman director on their board.

  • Only 10.4% of all board seats in the Fortune Global 200 companies are held by women.  Almost half of the companies with women directors (45.6%) have only one woman director.  The glass ceiling in corporate directorships is solidly in place.

  • 78 U.S. companies are in the Fortune Global 200 and all have women on their boards.  On these 78 companies, 17.5% of all board directors are women, leading all the countries represented by Fortune Global 200 companies.

  • Japan, the world’s second largest economy, with 27 companies in the Fortune Global 200, has only 3 women-held board seats out of 431 (0.7%).

  • The Top Ten ranking of companies with the highest percentage of women board directors includes 27 companies, dominated by the United States with 20.  The remaining companies are all European:  three German companies, along with two British, one Norwegian and one Dutch company round out the Top Ten.

  • Albertsons, a U.S. retail food and drugstore chain, ranks first globally and nationally among the Fortune Global 200 with 50% of its board seats held by women (5 out of 10).

  • Statoil, a petroleum refining company based in Norway, ranks second globally with 44.4% of its board made up of women (4 out of 9).

  • European companies in the Fortune Global 200 have lower percentages of women directors compared to the U.S. The United Kingdom has 12.5% of its board directors being female.  Germany has 10.3%, the Netherlands has 8.6%, followed by Switzerland (7.7%), France (7.2%), and Italy (1.8%).

  • The large majority of women board directors are non-executive, ‘outside’ members.  This is a positive in the U.S., where independent non-executive directors are the norm.   However, it is a minus in other countries where ‘inside’ directors (senior management) wield more power.

  • 53 companies in the Fortune Global 200 have no women directors, and they include some of the largest companies in the world – Germany’s DaimlerChrysler, Japan’s Toyota, France’s AXA.
     

The Top Ten Companies with the Highest Percentage of Women on their Boards
Based on the CWDI 2004 Report: Women Board Directors of the Fortune Global 200 Companies.  Information accurate as of June 2004.

Rank

Company Name

Global 200 rank

Country

Total Number of Directors

Number of Women Directors

Percentage of Women Directors

1

Albertsons

111

USA

10

5

50.0%

2

Statoil

112

Norway

9

4

44.4%

3

Wells Fargo

135

USA

14

5

35.7%

4

SBC Communications

96

USA

17

6

35.3%

5 (tie)

Hewlett-Packard

24

USA

9

3

33.3%

5 (tie)

J.C. Penney

123

USA

12

4

33.3%

5 (tie)

Royal Ahold

37

Netherlands

6

2

33.3%

5 (tie)

United Parcel Service

121

USA

9

3

33.3%

6 (tie)

Centrica

150

U.K.

10

3

30.0%

6 (tie)

Deutsche Post AG 

75

Germany

20

6

30.0%

6 (tie)

McKesson

26

USA

10

3

30.0%

7

Target

71

USA

14

4

28.6%

8

TIAA-CREF

181

USA

22

6

27.3%

9 (tie)

CVS

175

USA

8

2

25.0%

9 (tie)

Deutsche Bank

68

Germany

20

5

25.0%

9 (tie)

DuPont de Nemours

164

USA

12

3

25.0%

9 (tie)

Intl. Business Machines (IBM)

19

USA

12

3

25.0%

9 (tie)

J. Sainsbury

152

U.K.

8

2

25.0%

9 (tie)

Metro AG 

41

Germany

20

5

25.0%

9 (tie)

Sysco

179

USA

12

3

25.0%

9 (tie)

United Technologies

141

USA

12

3

25.0%

9(tie)

UnitedHealth Group

154

USA

12

3

25.0%

10 (tie)

Fannie Mae

57

USA

13

3

23.1%

10 (tie)

Metlife

106

USA

13

3

23.1%

10 (tie)

Johnson & Johnson

92

USA

13

3

23.1%

10 (tie)

PepsiCo

173

USA

13

3

23.1%

10 (tie)

State Farm Insurance

53

USA

13

3

23.1%

 

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