Good morning, Broadsheet readers! A sex tech startup goes bust, Shalanda Young was an instrumental figure in President Joe Biden’s debt deal, and women CEOs run 10.4% of the companies on this year’s Fortune 500. Have a productive Monday!
– Keeping it 500. At the beginning of 2023, the Broadsheet reported on a Fortune 500 milestone: For the first time in the list’s history, women ran 10% of companies on the ranking.
Today, the 2023 edition of the Fortune 500 is out, and that stat has held steady; women today run 10.4% of Fortune 500 businesses. That’s 52 female chief executives in total, an 18% rise from this time last year.
The Fortune 500 ranks the largest U.S. public companies by revenue; the 500 companies on the list represent $18 trillion in revenue, more than two-thirds of U.S. GDP. The list is a microcosm for American business writ large, so the share of firms led by female CEOs sheds light on gender diversity in executive leadership beyond this elite cohort.
There are 12 newcomers on this year’s list of female Fortune 500 CEOs. Some, like Opendoor CEO Carrie Wheeler and ADP CEO Maria Black, were promoted internally. Others were external hires, like Fannie Mae CEO Priscilla Almodovar and former Ulta chief Mary Dillon, who began a second stint running a Fortune 500 company when she took over Foot Locker last fall.
Female CEOs also join and depart this group when their companies become part of or fall off the Fortune 500 each year. Clorox CEO Linda Rendle, for example, is no longer among this year’s cohort; she is still running the cleaning products company, but it fell below the $7.2 billion revenue threshold needed to appear on the Fortune 500 this time around.
There are still few women of color running Fortune 500 businesses; among them are Fannie Mae’s Almodovar, Walgreens’ Roz Brewer, TIAA’s Thasunda Brown Duckett, AMD’s Lisa Su, and Yum China’s Joey Wat.
As Accenture CEO Julie Sweet told me, companies are realizing the value of diverse leadership. “The era of A.I. is requiring companies to reinvent every aspect—we call it total enterprise reinvention,” she says. “Diverse leaders have had to continuously reinvent and adapt at a personal level throughout their careers. They’re resilient, adaptable, and have to be pioneers.”
Read the full story here for all the details on this year’s Fortune 500.
Emma Hinchliffe
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@_emmahinchliffe
The Broadsheet is Fortune’s newsletter for and about the world’s most powerful women. Subscribe here.
ALSO IN THE HEADLINES
- Turned off. Lora DiCarlo, a startup founded by Lora Haddock DiCarlo, gained attention over the past few years as a women-friendly sex tech company, known for its "hands-free" vibrator. But eight former employees tell Fortune that the company shut down suddenly and laid them off over text message in October. They describe shoddy product development, financial mismanagement, and a work environment that allegedly included sexual harassment. Haddock DiCarlo didn't respond to requests for comment. Fortune
- Not next up. Sports commentator Jemele Hill is reportedly leaving Spotify, where she had an exclusive podcasting deal. The company is reversing some of its investments in original audio and has struggled to deliver on commitments to diversity and promoting Black voices. Bloomberg
- Behind the debt deal. President Joe Biden this weekend signed into law a deal suspending the U.S. debt limit through 2025, averting a first-ever default. At the center of those negotiations was Shalanda Young, the 45-year-old White House budget director. The debt deal was the former House Appropriations Committee staffer's "most important challenge," colleagues and lawmakers say. Bloomberg
MOVERS AND SHAKERS: Kathy Elsesser is stepping down as Goldman Sachs' chair of the consumer retail and health care banking group.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
- Bot problems. The National Eating Disorders Association last week removed a chatbot called Tessa after the bot gave weight-loss advice to users who visited the eating disorder recovery organization's website. The bot didn't rely on A.I. like ChatGPT, but instead gave pre-written answers to questions. Wall Street Journal
- Lack of home care. The eldercare startup Papa offered TaskRabbit-style services for home care for the elderly. But that gig economy model—inside people's homes—has led to at least 1,200 complaints of sexual harassment and assault from caretakers and elderly clients. The company said it was "deeply saddened" by one incident involving a Papa contractor (Papa itself wasn't named as a defendant in the case); it also "dispute[s] the suggestion that it’s lax on safeguards." Bloomberg
- Amateur no more. Golfer Rose Zhang, until now the top amateur women's golfer, made her long-awaited professional debut this weekend at the LPGA Tour. The 20-year-old became "the first person to win on the Tour while making her pro debut" since 1951. The Athletic
ON MY RADAR
With Hannah Gadsby’s ‘It’s Pablo-matic,’ the joke’s on the Brooklyn Museum New York Times
Rebecca and Keeley of Ted Lasso demonstrate the importance of intergenerational friendships in life and at work Fortune
The slap that changed everything New York Times
'You've never had an abortion, have you?' Vogue
PARTING WORDS
"I want my son and future daughter to know that their conception story is just as beautiful and valid as any other, regardless of the path we took to bring them into this world."
—Influencer, founder, and investor Hannah Bronfman on sharing her experience with infertility publicly
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