Good morning, Broadsheet readers! CVS plans to cut 5,000 jobs, Henrietta Lacks gets some justice, and female CEOs run a record high 5.8% of Global 500 businesses. Have a wonderful Wednesday!
-Going global. Fortune’s Global 500 ranks the 500 largest companies in the world by revenue—an even more challenging cohort to become a part of than the well-known Fortune 500, which only includes U.S. businesses. The smallest company on the Global 500 has revenues of $30.9 billion, compared to $7.2 billion for the Fortune 500.
On the new edition of the Global 500 out today, 29 of the 500 businesses are led by female CEOs. That’s up 20% from last year’s 24 female chief executives, for a total share of 5.8%. The Global 500 trails the Fortune 500, where women now run 10.4% of businesses.
Some CEOs appear on both the Fortune 500 and the Global 500 lists. The largest Global 500 company led by a woman is Karen Lynch’s CVS Health—the same as for the U.S. list. Other familiar faces like General Motors’ Mary Barra and Citigroup’s Jane Fraser also pull double duty.
But the Global 500 also shines a spotlight on international women-led companies that often don’t get as much attention in the American business press. There are nine new members of that cohort this year. They include Sandy Ran Xu, who was promoted to CEO of JD.com in May; Tarciana Paula Gomes Medeiros, who was promoted to president of Banco de Brasil in January; new Vodafone boss Margherita Della Valle; and two oil and gas industry leaders whose companies are new to the list, Korea Gas’s Yeon-Hye Choi and Annie J. Krist of the Netherlands’ GasTerra.
Some returning international names include Jessica Tan, co-CEO of the Chinese insurer Ping An, and Julie Sweet, who heads Accenture, which is officially based in Dublin.
Two women-led businesses—the British insurer Aviva, led by Amanda Blanc, and the Chinese manufacturer Gree Electric, led by Dong Mingzhu—fell off the Global 500 this year. A past Global 500 chief, Martina Merz, left her role as the leader of the German engineering business ThyssenKrupp in April.
As with the Fortune 500, the Global 500 provides a snapshot of the business universe. Among the world’s largest firms—and in regions outside the U.S.—women are still wildly underrepresented in leadership roles.
See the full list of female Global 500 chiefs here.
Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
@_emmahinchliffe
The Broadsheet is Fortune’s newsletter for and about the world’s most powerful women. Subscribe here.
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- CVS cuts. CVS Health is expected to slash around 5,000 jobs to cut costs after a string of acquisitions earlier this year. The move, which will mostly target corporate positions, is another push from the retail pharmacy chain to “be at the forefront of a once-in-a-generation transformation in health care,” CVS CEO Karen Lynch said in a staff memo. Wall Street Journal
- Historic win. The family of Henrietta Lacks and biotech company Thermo Fisher Scientific have reached a historic settlement over the unauthorized use and sharing of cells from Henrietta Lacks 70 years ago. Thermo Fisher Scientific is the first company to be held accountable for stealing Lacks’s cells, which were used to develop the polio and COVID-19 vaccines after scientists discovered that Lacks’s cells possessed unique qualities that allowed them to thrive in a lab. Fortune
- Charitable giving. Yang Huiyan, real estate mogul and once the richest woman in China, saw her fortunes drop 80% in the midst of China’s real estate slump. Now, she’s donating more than half of her stake in property firm Country Garden Service Holdings Company (worth about $826 million) to a charity run by her younger sister. Fortune
- Remembering a trailblazer. New Jersey Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver, the first Black woman assembly speaker in New Jersey and only the second Black woman to lead a legislative chamber in the U.S., has died at 71. Oliver, the state's second-ever lieutenant governor, and was serving as acting governor before she was hospitalized on Monday. Politico
MOVERS AND SHAKERS: Paulette Rowe has been appointed CEO of Stax. Katherine Power is joining Greycroft as a partner leading early-stage consumer product investments. Courtney Dutter has been promoted to general counsel & chief compliance officer of iCIMS.
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- Recession regret. Economist Claudia Sahm invented the "Sahm Rule" to predict if a recession is imminent, but now she's worried she's "created a monster." Sahm wanted her recession indicator to be used to help vulnerable people as soon as possible, but now sees it as spreading economic doom. Bloomberg
- She spends. The female consumer has emerged as a key player in this summer's economy, thanks to the massive amounts of money being spent on female art and events. The Women's World Cup, Greta Gerwig's Barbie movie, and tours from both Beyoncé and Taylor Swift have made women some of this summer's most dominant economic trendsetters. MarketWatch
- Paternity leave, please. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida wants more Japanese fathers to take paternity leave and share the burden of raising an infant to help boost a shrinking population. A new survey has found, however, that not enough fathers are taking advantage of the opportunity. Bloomberg
- Current makes waves. Kansas City's women's soccer team, the Kansas City Current, is building the first stadium in the world constructed for a professional women's sports team. The stadium, which will be ready in the spring, is backed by NFL star Patrick Mahomes and his wife Brittany Mahomes, who's a founding partner of the team. ABC
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Women know exactly what they’re doing when they use ‘weak language’ New York Times
‘Anyone could be the girl next door’: How Jenny Han defied Hollywood typecasting to turn ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ into a smash hit Variety
Forbes' 2023 50 over 50 list Forbes
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