Lululemon and Skechers Join Fortune 500 List as Female CEOs Prove Staying Power
Lululemon Athletica Inc. and Skechers Inc. are among the 15 new companies join the Fortune 500 list today, as the number of female CEOs on this list grows.
With the 69th annual Fortune 500 ranking out today, women run 10.4% of companies on this year’s list. In January, women made up more than 10% of CEOs leading Fortune 500 Companies for the first time since the Fortune 500 list began 68 years ago.
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According to Fortune, 52 of the 500 companies on the list are now helmed by women, up 18 percent from the same time last year. During a record year for women in leadership roles, 12 female CEOs of Fortune 500 companies were hired in the last year. To be eligible for inclusion on the Fortune 500 list, companies needed a minimum revenue of $7.24 billion.
The influx of female retail CEOs was a major storyline throughout 2022, persisting into 2023. Amid a general shakeup across retail, CEO shifts have opened the door for new leaders — often women — to come into the top position, which has recently been the case at Under Armour, Foot Locker and Red Wing Shoe Co. In the case of Foot Locker, newly appointed CEO Mary Dillon joined the Fortune 500 footwear retailer after a stint as CEO of another company on the list, Ulta Beauty.
Lululemon and Skechers, both helmed by men, join the Fortune 500 list on the heels of strong quarters for both companies. Lululemon last week reported strong results for the first quarter, bucking a trend of weakness and earnings misses across retail this quarter. The athleisure brand has consistently managed to weather macro-economic headwinds plaguing the retail industry at large.
Skechers, which was named Company of the Year at the 2022 Footwear News Achievement Awards, hit a new milestone in the first quarter of 2023 with over $2 billion in quarterly sales for the first time. This marked a 10 percent increase over the same time last year. The Los Angeles-based footwear company said that the gains were a result of “broad strength” in most markets globally, including regional sales improvements of 21 percent in both EMEA and APAC, which includes growth of 3 percent in China.
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