Sy Coson among most powerful in business

SM Investment Corp. vice chairman Tessie Sy Coson placed 46th in Fortune Magazine’s list of the 50 Most Powerful Women in International Business.

This is the sixth year in which Coson has been named to the list, which appeared in the magazine’s Oct. 23, 2006 issue, retaining her ranking last year.

"Sy-Coson, the eldest daughter of retail tycoon Henry Sy, scored big this year with the opening of the Mall of Asia in Manila, one of the largest malls in the world," writes Fortune Magazine’s Jenny Mero. "Foot traffic hit record numbers, which will surely boost revenues ($1 billion last year) at the holding company."

Coson is also vice chairman of Equitable Banking Corp., the country’s third largest bank; president of SM Inc., which handles SM’s retail businesses; and director of SM Prime Holdings, which owns and operates SM’s supermalls.

Mero noted that "with seven new entrants and strong contingents from France and China, our international list shows that business is opening up to women – fast." The top three women on this year’s Most Powerful Women list are running French companies – all of them Fortune Global 500 corporations.

Topping the list is Pat Russo for France, who is taking over the soon to be merged Alcatel Lucent, which will be based in Paris and become one of the largest telecom companies in the world. Anne Lauvergeon who heads nuclear giant Areva is number two, while Anne Marie Idrac, recently appointed president of SNCF, the French railway system is number three.

Others in the Global list’s top 10 include the Netherlands Linda Cook, executive director of Gas and Power of Royal Dutch Shell; Britain’s Marjorie Scardino, CEO of Pearson, which owns the Financial Times; China’s Xie Qihua, chairman of the Baosteel Group; Italy’s Marina Berlusconi, chairman of Finivest, the media conglomerate founded by her father, the former prime minister; the Netherlands’ Nancy McKinstry, chairman and CEO of publishing and online company Wolters Kluer; Spain’s Ana Patricia Botin, executive chairman of Banesto; and China’s Mary Ma, CFO of Lenovo, the world’s third largest computer company.

Indira Nooyi, the Indian born newly appointed CEO of Pepsi, on the other hand, topped the US List of Most Powerful Women, leading the way in what editors call "the year of the woman CEO." Others in the US list’s top 10 include Anne Mulcahy, chairman and CEO of Xerox; Meg Whitman, president and CEO of eBay; Pat Woertz, CEO and president of Archer Daniels Midland; Irene Rosenfield, CEO of Kraft Foods; Brenda Barnes, chairman and CEO of Sara Lee; Oprah Winfrey, chairman of Harpo, Inc.; Sally Krawcheck, CFO and head of Strategy of Citigroup and Susan Arnold, vice chair, Beauty and Health of Procter and Gamble.