New Chart Shows How Diverse Fortune 500 CEOs Really Are

Corporations in America are not known for their diversity when it comes to C-suite executives. The majority of CEOs and other top executives have primarily been white men. Are corporations doing any better at adding diversity to their executive teams?

Qualtrics looked at CEOs of Fortune 50 companies through the year to see just how much more diverse these companies have become.

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In 1980, all 50 of the Fortune 50 CEOs were white men. Now, in 2023, the roles are a bit more diverse. The lineup includes 6 white females, one black male, one black female, three South Asian males, one Latino male, and one Latina female.

These are some of the diversity milestones among Fortune 500 CEOS:

• First Female: Katharine Graham – The Washington Post (1972)
• First Latino Male: Roberto Goizueta – Coca Cola (1981)
• First East Asian Male: Gerald Tsai – The American Company (1986)
• First Black Male: Clifton R. Wharton Jr. – TIAA-CREF (1987)
• First South Asian Male: Ramani Ayer – The Hartford (1997)
• First East Asian Female: Andrea Jung – Avon (1999)
• First South Asian Female: Indra Nooyi – PepsiCo (2006)
• First Black Female: Ursula M Burns – Xerox (2009)
• First Openly LGBTQ+ Male: Tim Cook
• First Latina Female: Geisha Williams – PG&E (2017)
• First Openly LGBTQ+ Female: Beth Ford – Land O’Lakes (2018)

Corporate America still has many steps to take to ensure that companies’ executives are more diverse. However, a more concerted effort to diversify is a small step that will help companies more accurately represent our diverse population.