High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/7270bf6a-cc9f-11e4-b5a5-00144feab7de.html#ixzz3W4tyeGJCThe women on the FT’s list of leading business pioneers have built sizeable businesses and personal fortunes. US talk show host Oprah Winfrey’s net worth is estimated at $3bn; fashion designer Miuccia Prada’s at $4.7bn. Anita Roddick’s Body Shop was sold to L’Oréal, the French cosmetics group, for £652m in 2006. Beyond the pure numbers their businesses have had lasting effects: The Body Shop made the idea of cosmetics free of animal testing mainstream.But the list is short — just six of the FT’s 50 leading pioneers are female and nearly all concentrated in the field of fashion and beauty. This reflects a broader pattern. Just five of the FTSE 100 leading companies on the UK stock exchange are headed by a woman. In the US, just 23 of the Fortune 500 companies have a female chief executive.