October 6, 2014 / Fortune Asia / Volume 170 / Number 5 / 50 MOST POWERFUL WOMEN

98 FORTUNE’S MOST POWERFUL WOMEN 2014
Women executives are undertaking some of the most significant-and most challenging-business transitions in history.
100 IBM’s Ginni Rometty
By Michal Lev-Ram

108 GM’s Mary Barra
By Geoff Colvin

116 Reynolds’s Susan Cameron
By Patricia Sellers

121 The Confidence Gap
By Abby Johnson and Kathy Murphy

122 Fed Chair Janet Yellen
By John Cassidy

126 Apple’s Denise Young Smith
By Michal Lev-Ram

129 The List
By Caroline Fairchild, Beth Kowitt, Colleen Leahey, and Anne VanderMey

135 Most Powerful Women: International
By Rupali Arora and Erika Fry

136 MPW Europe, Middle East, and Africa

137 Santander’s Ana Bot匤
By Erika Fry

138 MPW Asia-Pacific

139 Alibaba’s Lucy Peng and Maggie Wu
By Scott Cendrowski

141 Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs
By Claire Zillman

148 Barbara Banke of Jackson Family Wines
By Jon Birger

154 Is Africa’s Rise for Real This Time?
Its economies are surging, and foreign investment is exploding. The challenges-including Ebola-are immense. But the continent may finally be ready to deliver on its promise.
By Vivienne Walt

162 Buffett’s Promise
Turmoil roiled Benjamin Moore, a paint company owned by Berkshire Hathaway, after it decided to break a pledge Warren Buffett made to Moore’s dealers. How did it happen-and how did the Oracle of Omaha respond? A case study in the pluses (and occasional minuses) of being owned by Berkshire.
By Colleen Leahey

168 Does Levi Strauss Still Fit America?
It used to be the only name in denim. Today the 161-year-old family-owned company is just one name among hundreds. Can anyone bring the blue jeans pioneer back to its old glory? Enter Chip Bergh-a former P&G brand whiz who once made razorblades cool.
By Caroline Fairchild

8 MACRO
Closer Look
What shipping can tell us about the global economy.
By Anne VanderMey

11 MACRO
Briefing
American gusher, robot wars, and our hot list of business reads.

14 MACRO
Chartist
How top women execs in the Fortune 500 fare in pay.
By Scott DeCarlo

16 MACRO
Pro-Files
Former Seton Hall point guard Pookey Wigington stands tall in the comedy biz.
By Michael Rosenberg

19 MACRO
New Energy
A Michigan startup claims its technology will disrupt the electric car industry.
By Brian Dumaine

22 MACRO
Global Power Profile
Alexandre Ricard is gearing up to run Pernod Ricard.
By Daniel Roberts

23 PURSUITS
Travel
The latest trend in luxury resorts? Quiet.
By Leigh Gallagher

26 PURSUITS
Road Warrior
Belmond CEO John Scott shares his travel tips.
By Alexandra Kirkman

27 VENTURE
Great Workplaces
Clif Bar ensures quality of life for employees.
By JP Mangalindan

29 VENTURE
Best Companies to Work For
The year’s top small-business workplaces.
By Christopher Tkaczyk

32 VENTURE
How I Got Started
Sharon Anderson Wright of Half Price Books.
Interview by Dinah Eng

35 TECH
Transportation
Uber’s growth strategy involves financing drivers with someone else’s money.
By Adam Lashinsky

38 TECH
The Fortune 500 Series
Delta is using speech recognition for customer service requests.
By Benjamin Snyder

41 INVEST
Analysis
It’s the worst possible time to buy stocks.
By Shawn Tully

44 INVEST
Face-Off
Can HBO make up for Time Warner’s other struggling businesses?
Interviews by Lauren Silva Laughlin

45 INVEST
Wealth Adviser
How to play the corn glut.
By Janice Revell

6 EDITOR’S DESK

176 BING!

INSIGHTS

46 Allan Sloan
Another reason that Main Street shouldn’t trust Wall Street.

47 Sheila Bair
Time to give the housing market a shot of adrenaline.

48 Becky Quick
Marketing to today’s middle class requires some fancy juggling.

ON THE COVER PHOTOGRAPH BY BEN BAKER

[IMAGES]


Three formidable CEOs must make their elephants dance.
ROBERTO PARADA



27 The employee-friendly Clif Bar appears at No. 12 on this year’s list of the 25 Best Medium-Size Companies to Work For.



ｩ Time Inc.