Angela Ahrendts, Apple’s senior vice president of retail stores, ranks 13th on FORTUNE’s “Most Powerful Women” list for 2017. Last year she placed 14th on the list, which is comprised of 26 CEOs controlling $1.1 trillion in market cap, seven newcomers, one returnee, and nine women in the tech industry.
Here’s what FORTUNE has to say about Ahrendts: “ince being persuaded by Tim Cook to join Apple in 2014 (she previously led British fashion brand Burberry), Ahrendts has been heads down on the tech behemoth’s largest store redesign in 15 years. In May the company launched its long-awaited “Today at Apple” initiative, which seeks to supplement public education through free courses on everything from coding to music production to photography. Apple’s highest-ranking woman, she oversees 60,000 retail employees and is responsible for the in-store experiences of a more than a million daily customers. Research firm eMarketer estimates that the combined revenue from in-store and online sales is nearly $50 billion. Ahrendts was the second executive after Cook—and the only woman—to take the stage at September’s keynote, where she spoke at length about Apple’s ‘town squares’—the new moniker for its retail stores.”
