we love you gail

Kelly powers past Oprah
NEW YORK
29/08/2008 7:05:00 AM
Westpac chief executive Gail Kelly has been ranked the world's 11th most powerful woman by business journal Forbes.

The influential US publication put Ms Kelly just a few spots below US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who took seventh spot.

The list was headed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel for the third year in a row.

Ms Kelly finished well above former US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who was ranked 28th three places lower than last year when she was still in the running for the White House.

Ms Kelly beat the likes of talkshow queen Oprah Winfrey, who was ranked 36, the Queen at 58, and New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark at 56.

South African-born Ms Kelly, 51, took over at Westpac Banking Corp in February.

Forbes mentions her rise up the corporate ladder from her humble beginnings as a bank teller.

It also references the controversy caused when Westpac, under her stewardship, launched a takeover of her former employer St George Bank.

Chairwoman of Hancock Prospecting Georgina Rinehart was 98th on the list. Ms Rinehart inherited the mining company from her father, Lang,

Second on the list behind Dr Merkel was the little-known head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Sheila Bair. The US agency ''maintains the stability and public confidence in the nation's financial system by insuring deposits, supervising financial institutions and managing receiverships''.

The third-placed finisher was another unknown, the chief executive of US soft-drink giant PepsiCo, Indra Nooyi, who was one of 54 business leaders on the list, unveiled yesterday.

Argentinian President Cristina Kirchner, one of 23 politicians on the list, finished just behind Ms Kelly in 13th place.

While the women ranked in the top 100 control $US26 trillion ($A30trillion) worldwide, to make the list a woman does not have to be personally rich. Forbes measures power based on public profile and financial power.

The public profile rating is based on how many times a woman is mentioned in the press. Senator Clinton had the highest public profile, but lacked the financial heft of some of her peers.

The financial power component of the list takes into account a woman's job title, past career achievements and the amount of money she controls. AFP/AAP