Its international women’s day today. So it’s only fitting for Jewish Business News to celebrate the Jewish women in business. The following is a list of some of the most successful Jewish businesswomen in the world today.
This list is presented in random order. We are not making any statements as to an individual’s importance or level of success here.
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Ruth Porat – Senior Vice President and CFO, Google
Ruth Porat has been at the top of the top since 2015. As the CFO of Google, Porat is possibly more powerful than most world leaders. Porat previously served as CFO and executive vice president of Morgan Stanley from January 2010 to May 2015.
The British born executive was ranked as the 16th most powerful woman in the world for 2020 by Forbes. Ruth Porat is an example of how a powerful businesswoman can also be a mother and have a successful marriage. The 63 year old mother of three has been married for 37 years. She has a Master of Science from the London School of Economics, a Bachelor of Arts/Science from Stanford University and a Masters of Business Administration from University of Pennsylvania’s the Wharton School.
Janet Yellen – U.S. Secretary of the Treasury
She is not only the first woman to ever become the American treasury secretary, the 74 year old career economist and Brooklyn native from a Polish Jewish family was also the first woman Chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve. Yellen got her Ph.D. in economics from Yale University in 1971.She began her career on the faculty at Harvard. After five years there she moved over to a career in public service with Federal Reserve.
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Susan Wojcicki — CEO YouTube
One of the founders of Google, Susan Wojcicki was the company’s first marketing manager. She was the one who saw the potential in YouTube and suggested its acquisition by Google. She took over managing YouTube when Google bought the company in 2006. Her mother was a Jewish teacher.
The 52 year old mother of five is a California native and holds a B.A. from Harvard.
Safra Catz – CEO Oracle
Safra Catz was born in Holon, Israel and moved with her family to Massachusetts when she was six years old. The 59 year old mother of two has a B.A. from the Wharton school of business and a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania. She joined Oracle in 1999, served as its CFO and replaced Larry Ellison as Oracle CEO in 2014.
Forbes once ranked her the 16th most powerful woman in business and Fortune ranked her 12th.
Mindy Grossman – CEO WW International
WW International was formerly called Weight Watchers. Grossman, 63, was adopted by Jewish parents and grew up on Long Island. Before WW, Grossman worked for clothing brands like Ralph Lauren and Nike where she served as a global VP. In 2006 she moved over to HSN (Home Shopping Network). After more than a decade with HSN, Mindy Grossman took over as CEO of WW International in 2017.
Mindy Grossman has made the Fortune, Forbes and Financial Times lists of most powerful women in the world.
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Sheryl Sandberg – COO Facebook
Worth nearly $2 billion, Sheryl Sandberg has made the top lists of most influential people in the world, including the Time 100.
Sandberg is a widow with two children. She was born in Washington D.C. She is a graduate of Harvard, earning her B.A. in 1991. She also got her MBA from the school in 1995. Her first big job came in government when Sandberg worked for Larry Summers, while he was the United States Secretary of the Treasury during President Bill Clinton’s second term.
After her stint in government, she went to work for Google. While there Sandberg transformed its online sales of advertising and publishing products as well as sales operations of Google’s consumer products and Google Book Search. While at Google she grew the ad and sales team from four people to 4,000.
Sheryl Sandberg became Facebook COO in 2008.
Diane von Fürstenberg – Fashion Designer, Entrepreneur
The 74 year old Belgian fashion designer is possibly the most famous woman on the list. While most business executives tend to be anonymous and not in the spotlight, the exact opposite is true for anyone who is successful in the fashion industry.
Furstenberg’s mother was a Greek Holocaust survivor who was a prisoner in Auschwitz.
Her brand DVF was founded in 1972. Forbes lists her net worth at $300 million. DVF has 148 stores in 55 countries. Furstenberg is currently married to businessman Barry Diller.
Irene Rosenfeld – Former Chairwoman and CEO of Mondelēz International
Women don’t ordinarily rise to the top at major corporations. They may get senior positions, or rise to the top of a new company of they worked there from the beginning. But not the pinnacle of old economy firms.
The global food company Mondēlez is known for such products as Oreo cookies, Trident and Ritz.
The Long Island native has a B.A. from Cornell. She also earned her PhD in marketing and statistics from Cornell.
Tory Burch – Fashion Designer, Entrepreneur
Tory Burch Website pic
The 54 year old Tory Burch was born in n Valley Forge, Pennsylvania to a Jewish mother. She founded Tory Burch LLC in 2004. According to Forbes the company brings in $1.5 billion in sales from apparel, footwear, watches, accessories, and fragrances.
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Dr. Michal Tsur – President and Co-founder of Kaltura
Michal Tsur grew up in Jerusalem. She is described as a serial entrepreneur. She co-founded Kaltura, an Israeli startup which provides live and on-demand video SaaS solutions. The company recently filed with the SEC for its IPO. Kaltura expects to raise up to $100 million in the initial public offering, giving it a $1 billion valuation.
Tsur previously cofounded Cyota, a cybersecurity company purchased for $145 million by RSA Security in 2005.
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