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Most Powerful Women

Margherita Della Valle

Italian-born Della Valle officially took Vodafone’s helm in April this year, making her the first female chief in the history of the British telecommunications company, which earned $48 billion in revenue last year. The three-decade veteran of Vodafone, and most recently its CFO, is tasked with boosting profits and reversing the company’s slumping share price. Della Valle, one of nine female FTSE 100 bosses in the U.K.—in June spearheaded a $19 billion merger with CK Hutchison’s Three to form the U.K.’s largest mobile operator with 27 million customers, leapfrogging Virgin Media O2 and BT-owned EE. Regulators still have to approve the deal, but it’s already considered the biggest shake-up in the U.K. mobile market in over a decade. As part of her turnaround plan, Della Valle also plans to cut more than 10,000 jobs—over 10% of the firm’s total workforce—in the next three years.

Courtesy of Vodafone
  • Title
    CEO
  • Affiliation
    Vodafone
  • Country/Territory
    U.K.
Italian-born Della Valle officially took Vodafone’s helm in April this year, making her the first female chief in the history of the British telecommunications company, which earned $48 billion in revenue last year. The three-decade veteran of Vodafone, and most recently its CFO, is tasked with boosting profits and reversing the company’s slumping share price. Della Valle, one of nine female FTSE 100 bosses in the U.K.—in June spearheaded a $19 billion merger with CK Hutchison’s Three to form the U.K.’s largest mobile operator with 27 million customers, leapfrogging Virgin Media O2 and BT-owned EE. Regulators still have to approve the deal, but it’s already considered the biggest shake-up in the U.K. mobile market in over a decade. As part of her turnaround plan, Della Valle also plans to cut more than 10,000 jobs—over 10% of the firm’s total workforce—in the next three years.