Number of women running Fortune 500 companies hits all-time high

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The number of women running Fortune 500 companies is at an all-time high, with 37 of the companies on this year’s list being led by female CEOs, according to Fortune

Despite the record high, female CEOs make up just 7.4 percent of the 500 leaders of the list of the largest companies in the U.S.

Seven of the women run companies in the top 100 businesses on the list, Fortune noted. 

The total number of female CEOs is four higher than last year’s amount, 33, which was the previous record. 

The number of women leading companies on the list has increased, with some dips over the years, since Fortune recorded two female CEOs on the list in 1998. 

There is little racial diversity among the women on the latest list. Only three of the 37 CEOs are women of color —  Gap Inc.’s Sonia Syngal, Advanced Micro Devices CEO Lisa Su and Yum China CEO Joey Wat — and not one of the 500 companies on this year’s list has a black or Latina woman as CEO, Fortune notes. 

Additions to this year’s list include women who took over Fortune 500 companies from male predecessors, as well as women leading companies that broke into the list for the first time this year. 

The revenue threshold for a company to make the latest list was $5.7 billion, according to Fortune.

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