In late October, mortgage giant Fannie Mae announced its CEO Priscilla Almodovar was stepping down. The next day, defense contractor SAIC said it was parting ways with its CEO Toni Townes-Whitley. The following month, Walmart appointed its new CEO. and it was not chief executive of its international division, Kath McLay, who was thought to be a candidate.
CEO exits and chief executive contenders not getting the top job are normal machinations of corporate C-Suites, but this year they’ve added up to a stark trend: the number of female CEOs in the Fortune 500, long on a steady climb, has plateaued, underscoring a broader trend in which corporate workplaces seem to be pushing women to the margins once again. In the new year, the Fortune 500, the largest U.S. companies by revenue, will have 54 women CEOs, one fewer than it had when the 2025 Fortune 500 list was published in June.
