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Just a few months into 2025, it became clear that the year would be unlike any other in recent memory, because of tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde characterized the uncertainty as “high and rising.” Companies have acknowledged that what lies ahead will be impossible to predict.
Among those faced with the changing world order are some of the Most Powerful Women in business. Now in its 28th year, the annual ranking recognizes 100 women leading major global companies. This year, 21 listees are at the helm of European companies. Whether running some of the world’s biggest fashion houses or energy companies, they embody Europe’s female leadership power.
21
The number of women at the helm of European companies on MPW
That also means the ever-shifting tariff crisis affects some of their businesses directly or indirectly. For instance, British pharma giant GSK makes 50% of its revenue from the U.S.
GSK is “a global company, and pharma supply chains are complex … so we have options to mitigate what may come,” Emma Walmsley, GSK’s CEO, tells Fortune. “It’s not wrong to say being a CEO is a lonely job, but it’s a lot less lonely when you work alongside extraordinary people.”
MPW leaders tell Fortune that the onus of navigating a nebulous world will not just fall on the top tier. It will need collective intelligence and synchrony from different experts and geographies.
“It’s not wrong to say being a CEO is a lonely job, but it’s a lot less lonely when you work alongside extraordinary people.”
Emma Walmsley GSK’s CEO
“I don’t claim to know everything or have all the answers,” notes Belén Garijo, CEO of German giant Merck Group. But the company of 62,000 people in life science, health care, and tech always plans for various scenarios.
“It’s never just about me. One of my key leadership principles is to surround myself with smart, capable people,” Garijo says.
Emma Walmsley (ranked #20 on MPW)
CEO
GSK — U.K.
Walmsley, one of pharma’s most powerful bosses, is entering the ninth year of her ambitious turnaround mission at GSK, driving the company forward in discoveries related to cancer and antimicrobial resistance, while doubling down on AI.
Walmsley started her career at L’Oréal. She worked for the French cosmetic company for 17 years, holding various general management and marketing roles in Paris, London, and New York. In 2010 she joined GSK as president of Consumer Healthcare Europe, and took over as CEO in 2017.
A turning point for Walmsley during her career at GSK was the breakthrough of Arexvy, the world’s first RSV vaccine, which generated $1.6 billion in sales in its first year after launching in the third quarter of 2023. The vaccine was a triumph for the pharma company after it failed to develop a COVID jab.
In 2024, GSK doubled sales of its cancer treatments, taking total company revenue to $41.7 billion. GSK is currently exploring technological advancements aimed at leveraging AI to hasten drug discovery. Walmsley is an independent director at Microsoft. Her pay packet rose to $13.3 million as reward for her company’s top-line growth.
Anna Borg (ranked #37 on MPW)
President and CEO
Vattenfall — Sweden
Borg leads one of the largest European energy companies, with 21,000 employees across the continent. Vattenfall is now collaborating with Swedish industry to double fossil-free electricity production in the coming decades. Borg’s company has also committed to invest $17 billion over the next five years in projects like Dutch offshore wind farms. Vattenfall aims to reach net-zero across its entire emissions chain by 2040.
Belén Garijo (ranked #39 on MPW)
Chair of Executive Board and CEO
Merck KGaA — Germany
A doctor by training, Garijo entered the pharmaceutical business, eventually heading up the integration of biotech Genzyme into parent Sanofi-Aventis. In 2011 she joined the health care arm of Germany’s Merck KGaA, turning the business around and realigning its portfolio to focus on oncology and immunology. This year, her fifth as president and CEO of a company with 63,000 employees, saw Garijo signing a $3.9 billion deal to acquire SpringWorks Therapeutics.
Margherita Della Valle (ranked #80 on MPW)
Group CEO
Vodafone — U.K.
Della Valle took Vodafone’s helm in 2023, making her the first female chief in the history of the British telecommunications company. Della Valle, who has spent three decades at Vodafone (most recently as its CFO), is tasked with boosting profits and reversing its share price slump. As part of her turnaround plan, she has sold off Vodafone’s Spanish and Italian arms for €5 billion and €8 billion, respectively. Her next move includes a $15 billion merger in the U.K. with Three this year, set to form Britain’s largest mobile network once completed—and appears to have paused the nosedive in Vodafone’s shares.
Allison Kirkby (ranked #85 on MPW)
CEO
BT Group — U.K.
In early 2024, Kirkby became the first woman to helm BT Group, the U.K. telecoms giant, bringing decades of consumer and telecom savvy into one of the most scrutinized boardrooms in British business. A former Procter & Gamble executive, Kirkby made her mark turning around Sweden’s Telia and Denmark’s TDC, and she’s now steering BT through its most aggressive modernization push yet.
At the core of her plan: a $20 billion rollout to deliver full-fiber broadband to 25 million U.K. homes by 2026, and a radical overhaul of BT’s structure, with up to 55,000 roles set to be cut by the decade’s end. BT has also announced plans to separate its international operations into a new stand-alone unit, as Kirkby continues to explore the possible scale of the telecom group’s non-U.K. business. Investors have taken note—shares climbed after years of stagnation, as Kirkby pivoted away from BT’s global distractions to refocus on domestic dominance.
Kirkby has emphasized the importance of AI, and is not just making the business faster; she’s pushing for a more inclusive telecoms future as Britain grapples with digital inequality and aging infrastructure. Amid an industry reckoning on diversity, Kirkby has doubled down on BT’s DEI commitments.
Sophie Bellon (ranked #88 on MPW)
Chairwoman and CEO
Sodexo — France
Bellon manages a food and beverage business that caters to 80 million people every day—including the hungry fans at New Orleans’ Superdome during the 2025 Super Bowl. The second-generation French businesswoman started her career in finance, working for Crédit Lyonnais in New York as an advisor for mergers and acquisitions. She then worked as an agent for luxury brands such as Armani, Chanel, and Ungaro. Bellon took over as chair and then CEO of the 23.8-billion-euro business after the 2022 death of her father, Sodexo founder Pierre Bellon.
She remains committed to his philosophy of “preserving the advantages of a large company without losing the benefits of a small one.” Bellon has spun off non-core businesses like employee benefits platform Pluxee, in 2024, to focus on her ambition of turning Sodexo into the leader in sustainable food catering, with vegetarian sausages and ingredients sourced from local hydroponic farms.
Under Bellon’s leadership, Sodexo is also making significant strides in developing its food brands, such as Modern Recipe and Kitchen Works, which aim to deliver diverse, modern, and high-quality tailored dining experiences that fulfill evolving consumer preferences.
This article appears in the June/July 2025 issue of Fortune with the headline ‘Spotlight: Europe’s Most Powerful Women’.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
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https://fortune.com/europe/2025/05/23/queens-of-influence-women-shaping-europe-future-gsk-vattenfall-merck-vodafone-bt-sodexo/
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