Jill Abramson Makes Forbes Power List
Jill Abramson, the executive editor of The New York Times and first woman to lead the paper, was named the fifth most powerful woman in the world by Forbes magazine.
Abramson was ahead of first lady Michelle Obama, who was ranked seventh, and below philanthropist Melinda Gates and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, on the 2012 World’s 100 Most Powerful Women list released Wednesday.
Several other Jewish businesswomen also joined the list including Facebook’s chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg, at 10; CEO and chairman of Kraft Foods Inc. Irene Rosenfeld, at 13, down from number 2 last year; senior vice president of Google Susan Wojcicki at 25; and CEO of the Home Shopping Network Mindy Grossman at 96.
Fashion designer Diana Von Furstenburg made the list at 33 along with Anna Wintour, the editor in chief of Vogue, who came in at 51.
Other Jewish women on the list include: Chairman of Sony Pictures Amy Pascal, at 36; Oracle CFO Safra Katz, at 48; heiress, businesswoman and philanthropist Shari Arison at 65; U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mary Schapiro at 65, down from 17 last year; Cable TV executive Bonnie Hammer at 73; and Rockefeller Foundation head Judith Rudin at 98.
A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism so that we can be prepared for whatever news the rest of 2025 brings.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Membership Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO