Meg Whitman

Meg was an undergraduate student at the prestigious Princeton University where she was a member of the student organization Business Today. She received an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Having a dream from childhood to head a company, Meg searched for a business opportunity where she could make her mark.

When Meg joined eBay as its president and CEO, the company was still a small auction website with few employees and a small scale budget. Since that time, she has been instrumental in refurbishing this domain into unparalleled global e-commerce engine that continues to influence and reshape the way people trade, pay and communicate throughout the world.

Meg is one of only seven women to have been repeatedly ranked among the world's most influential people by Time magazine.

Anne Mulcahy

Image Source: [http://media.xerox.ca]

Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Xerox Corporation, Anne has consistently been ranked among the Most Powerful Women in Business by the Fortune magazine.

Having majored in English and Journalism from Marymount College, NY, Anne joined Xerox as a field sales representative in 1976 and rose through the ranks.

Although Anne never aspired to be CEO of Xerox, she was selected for the top job by the board in 2001. At the time the company was in debt US$17.1 billion and held $154 million in cash. The year prior, the stock price of Xerox had dropped by 93%. She says that it was her sense of duty and loyalty to being with the company for so many years that compelled her to help the company during such a period.

Anne devised a bold plan for recovery. Almost immediately, she addressed the company's liquidity issues and quickly raised cash. Through a "back to basics" approach and a renewed focus on operational efficiency, Xerox cut its capital expenditures by 50 percent; reduced its sales, general, and administrative expenses by one-third; and slashed its total debt in half. All this while, the company did not lose its focus on innovation.

Leading a top global firm is no small challenge. Not only that, Anne Mulcahy successfully managed to reverse the company's fortunes after a sustained period of underperformance and returned Xerox to full-year profitability by the end of 2002.

Sandra Kurtzig

Image Source: [http://www.csupomona.edu]

The founder and retired CEO of ASK Software, Sandra was once named the "Mother of Silicon Valley". Ms Kurtzig started her company on a shoestring budget in her home and built it into an MNC.

What accentuates the position of women in technology is their tenacity. She proved it and finally commanded the respect that women deserve. After she sold her company, it spiralled down. Sandra bought it back, turned it around, cleaned it up, got it on the right path and set it free again.

Sandra Kurtzig challenged prevailing notions of entrepreneurship. When she retired from ASK in 1992, it was the largest company ever founded, headed, and taken public by a woman.

With degrees in mathematics, chemistry, and aeronautical engineering, Kurtzig now serves on Stanford and Harvard Advisory boards and manages a family investment partnership.