By Colleen Kane, CNBC.com
Women account for less than 5 percent of the CEOs in S&P 500 companies, but the number is edging up. Fortune 500 corporations hit a record 20 when Marissa Mayer joined Yahoo! earlier this year.
The following list consists of 10 women CEOs who run the highest valued corporations, from the fields of technology to food and beverage to chemicals and energy services. Note that company values are determined by their market capitalization numbers.
This roster includes leaders who are remarkable not only for their accomplishments and titles. It includes several women who were firsts of their kind in different categories. Read ahead to see the biggest companies run by women, as determined by the current S&P 500.
See the full list: Biggest Companies Run by Women
.1. IBM
CEO: Virginia "Ginni" Rometty
Company value: $236.226 billion
Ginni Rometty took on the role of CEO of International Business Machines in January. She joined the company in 1981 and held numerous leadership roles at the multinational technology and consulting giant, which has more than 430,000 employees. She is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Board of Trustees of Northwestern University and the Board of Overseers and Board of Managers of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
PepsiCo2. Pepsico
CEO: Indra Nooyi
Company value: $110.138 billion
Indra Nooyi became president and CEO of Pepsico in 2006 and chairwoman the following year. The multinational corporation has a portfolio of 22 brands, each generating more than $1 billion in sales annually, including Pepsi, Frito-Lay, Gatorade, Quaker and Tropicana.
Kraft3. Kraft Foods
CEO: Irene Rosenfeld
Company value: $71.412 billion
After three decades in consumer research at Kraft, General Foods and Frito-Lay, Irene Rosenfeld re-joined Kraft in 2006 as CEO and became chairwoman the next year. Kraft Foods is one of the world's biggest multinational food and beverage companies, with such brands as Cadbury, Nabisco and Oscar Mayer. Following the October 2012 spinoff into two branches, Rosenfeld will lead the Global Snacks division, to be called Mondelez. She is also a member of the Grocery Manufacturers Association Board of Directors and Cornell's Board of Trustees.
DuPont
4. DuPont
CEO: Ellen Kullman
Company value: $47.607 billion
Following a three-month stint as president of E. I. du Pont de Nemours, Ellen Kullman became CEO of the company on the first day of 2009 and then chairwoman of the board on the last day of that year. She joined the company in 1988 as a marketing manager. In addition to her roles with the chemical company, Kullman sits on the U.S.-India CEO Forum, the Business Council and is a member of the executive committee of SCI-America.
HP5. Hewlett-Packard
CEO: Margaret "Meg" Whitman
Company value: $35.686 billion
Meg Whitman spent 10 years as president and CEO of eBay before moving on to lead HP, the hardware and software company that provides products, technologies, solutions and services to businesses and consumers. Whitman, a Republican, made a bid for governor of California in 2010, spending $178 million but losing to Jerry Brown. It was the highest amount ever spent in a statewide campaign in California history.
See the rest: Biggest Companies Run by Women
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