Two Indian origin women have made it to the Forbes' inaugural list of America's 50 richest self-made women. India -born Neerja Sethi has been ranked 14 on the list with a net worth of USD 1.1 billion, while London- born Jayshree Ullal comes 30th with a USD 470 million net worth. The 60- -year- old Sethi is the co-founder of the IT consulting and outsourcing company Syntel. She served as the company's treasurer in its initial 16 years of operations and is currently the vice president of corporate affairs.
Quoted as “one of America's wealthiest female executives,” by Forbes, Ullal became President and CEO of Arista Networks that has now become one of Silicon Valley's most valuable networking firms. Born in London and raised in New Delhi, Ullal has donated shares to a family foundation created in honour of her sister, who died of lung cancer.
Forbes' first ever list of the nation's top 50 most successful and self made women include entrepreneurs, CEOs, entertainers, designers and an author. Other women to make the cut were Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, media moghul Oprah Winfrey, Singer Beyonce, novelist Nora Roberts and transgender and founder of the biotech firm United Therapeutics, Martine Rothblatt.
SBI chief as 30th most powerful woman in the world
State Bank of India's first woman chairperson, Kolkata- based Arundhati Bhattacharya, moved 6 spots up in the Forbes' 100 Most Powerful Women and now ranks 30th in the coveted listing.
As the chairperson of SBI, Bhattacharya directs more than 200,000 employees across 16,000 branches that together serve 225 million customers and hold offices in more than 36 countries. Appointed when the economy was slow, she steered various initiatives in technology banking outlet, Bi Tech Learning Centres for educating customers and BI e-Pay, a payment service.
Bhattacharya also has recognised the multiple roles by women and pioneered a two year sabbatical policy for female employees taking maternity leave to extend care to their families. Under her administration, the bank has reported an increase by 23% and a four fold modification in treasury gains.
Other Indian women to make the list are ICICI Bank head Chanda Kochchar, Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw and HT media chair Shobhana Bhartia.
Forbes' 12th Annual List of the 100 Most Powerful Women in the World features women who are transforming the world. They are ranked according to wealth, media presence and their overall impact.
