Did you know that women control more than 60 percent of all personal wealth in the U.S., and they also account for more than 50 percent of all stock ownership? In fact, the average American woman is expected to earn more than the average American male by 2028. 
It’s been an important year for women across the globe. With newly-appointed female CEOs and women-led corporate crisis aversions, there are many powerful women in business who deserve recognition for their efforts. Recently, Forbes compiled a list of the world’s most powerful women in business. Here are the top 10 business to watch in 2013:
1. Sheryl Sandberg
This American businesswoman spent four years as Facebook COO. After seeing the company through its $100 billion IPO this past May, she was named to the board of directors. Before Facebook, Sandberg was Vice President of Global Online Sales and Operations at Google, launching the philanthropic Google.org.
2. Indra Nooyi
As the current chairman and CEO of PepsiCo, Nooyi is nothing less than a superstar. She’s always a consistent ranker on Forbes‘ list of powerful women, which isn’t surprising. Last year, she brought $5.6 billion to shareholders and net revenue grew 14% to 66 billion.
3. Irene Rosenfeld
The chairman and CEO of Kraft is currently organizing a major corporate split of its North American grocery business and its global snacks business into two independent public companies. Previously, she was chairman and CEO of Frito-Lay.
4. Virginia Rometty
More than a year ago, this 30-year IBM veteran was promoted to chairman and CEO of the company — the first woman to ever head the century-old tech company. Always a top contender on Forbes and Time magazines, Rommetty certainly has a variety of things in store for IBM.
5. Meg Whitman
After striking out during the 2010 election for governor of California, the former eBay CEO now holds the same title at Hewlett-Packard. She’s prepared to take on the task of turning the struggling tech company around.
6. Marissa Mayer
As a previous employee of Google, Mayer stunned the tech world with her move to CEO of Yahoo!. While she may be getting a lot of flack for her recent telecommuting policy, she intends to leverage Yahoo!’s strong franchises in email, finance, and sports.
7. Arianna Huffington
As the co-founder of online newspaper The Huffington Post — sold to AOL in early 2011 — Huffington saw her site win its first Pulitzer Prize this past year in national reporting. She’s focused on expanding globally and is currently working on new launches in Spain and Italy.
8. Sheri McCoy
As a previous employee of Johnson & Johnson, McCoy recently took the position of CEO for Avon. They remain the world’s largest direct seller of beauty products, with 6.4 million active sales reps in 100 countries — lthough McCoy is looking to boost earnings.
9. Laura Lang
The newest CEO of Time Inc. was previously the chief of Digitas. One of her big moves was agreeing to sell subscriptions to 20 of Time Inc.’s magazines on Apple’s iPad.
10. Angela Ahrendts
Burberry’s CEO continues to drive the apparel, accessories, and luxury goods company in positive new directions. Ahrendts is the power behind $2.9 billion in annual revenues.
