[Article has been updated on 4 November 2020, 10:50am]
Fortune has released the 2020 edition of its Most Powerful Women Outside the United States, where a total of 50 women were shortlisted.
The top three on the list are Emma Walmsley, CEO of GlaxoSmithKline; Jessica Tan, CEO of China’s Ping An Group; and Ana Botín, Executive Chairman of Spain’s Banco Santander.
According to Fortune, it “scans the globe” every year, to highlight the most powerful women in business based outside the United States.
The list was created 20 years ago, and takes into consideration the size and health of a woman’s business, the arc of her career, as well as her societal and cultural influence.
The Covid-19 pandemic has posed a huge challenge for business leaders so Fortune also took a look at how businesswomen used their power during this time.
This is why Emma Wamsley — who directed many of her drug company’s resources to the fight against COVID-19 — made it to the top of the list.
One Of Two Singaporeans On The List
Out of the 50 women, Ho Ching, the CEO of Temasek Holdings was the second Singaporean who made the list.
The other Singaporean who made the cut is Jessica Tan, co-CEO and Executive Director of Ping An Group, China’s largest insurance company.
This is Ho Ching’s first time on the list. Ho has consistently appeared on the list for the past five years — ranking eighth in 2016 and 2018, 10th in 2017, and 19th in 2019.
This year, her ranking fell one level.
Temasek Holdings is a Singaporean holding company owned by the government.
According to Fortune’s write-up on Ho Ching, the nature of considering the pandemic was reflected in how Temasek Holdings “threw a lifeline to Singapore Airlines”.
The sovereign fund also “courted Singaporeans’ goodwill by giving away hand sanitiser and face masks” through Temasek Foundation.
In February, Temasek announced a company-wide wage freeze and voluntary pay cuts for senior management in part to help fund community programs.
Fortune also took into consideration how Ho Ching uses her Facebook page to “back the city-state’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak and defend Temasek as it faced criticism for hiring employees who aren’t Singaporean.”
Featured Image Credit: Unscrambled SG
