Maharashtra-born Leena Nair, the former chief human resources officer of FMCG major Unilever, has been picked as the Global CEO of French fashion house Chanel. Her appointment is a watershed moment that celebrates the power of women leading the global workforce. Nair will fill in the post that had been lying vacant since the departure of US businesswoman Maureen Chiquet in 2016. Chiquet was the CEO of Chanel for nine years.

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Nair follows the footsteps of her “mentor and friend” Indra Nooyi, who held the post of CEO of US-based PepsiCo from 2006 to 2018.

"I'm so proud to call her a mentor and friend," Nair had said about Nooyi in October, reports Moneycontrol.

“She (Leena Nair) is what I call a kickass executive. She is fantastic," Nooyi has said.

While we celebrate Nair’s appointment as CEO, here’s a look at a few other woman bosses around the world.

Karen Lynch

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Karen Lynch was appointed as the CEO of $268-billion healthcare giant CVS Health in February. With her appointment, CVS Health became the largest company to be steered by a female chief executive, according to Fortune. Prior to this, Lynch was the president of Aetna, the corporation's insurance arm.

Mary Barra

Mary T. Barra became the first female CEO of General Motors in 2014, taking over from Daniel Akerson. She is now leading the company in its transition to electric vehicles by 2035.

Rosalind Brewer

Roz Brewer took over as CEO of health and wellbeing enterprise Walgreens Boots Alliance in March 2021, succeeding Stefano Pessina. Prior to her appointment as CEO, Brewer worked as chief operating officer, group president and member of the board of Starbucks Corporation, which she had joined in 2017.

Revathi Advaithi

Among Indians at the helm of global affairs, Revathi Advaithi leads Nasdaq-listed Flex (formerly Flextronics) since 2019. She succeeded Michael M. McNamara. Earlier, Advaithi worked as the president and COO of power management company Eaton.

Sharmistha Dubey

In 2020, IIT-alumni Sharmistha Dubey took over as CEO of Match Group, which she had joined in 2006. Match group owns and operates dating apps like Hinge and Tinder.

Reshma Kewalramani

Kewalramani is the CEO and President of Vertex Pharmaceuticals, which she joined in 2017. She has also served as the chief medical officer and executive vice-president of global medicines development and medical affairs of the company. Prior to joining Vertex, Kewalramani worked for 12 years at biopharmaceutical company Amgen.

(Edited by : Shoma Bhattacharjee)