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The Forbes 50 over 50 2022 list includes seven Indian American women who have shown the way and made a mark in different arenas.
The second annual 50 Over 50, produced in partnership with Mika Brzezinski and her Know Your Value initiative, features 200 dynamic women proving that success has no age limit. It showcases trailblazers like the most successful female entrepreneur in U.S. history, a groundbreaking Silicon Valley venture capitalist, Hollywood’s most influential stage mom, the nation’s first Black female Supreme Court Justice, and also Indian American women achievers.
First launched in 2021 the 50 Over 50 shines a light on women who are stepping into their most powerful roles in their sixth decade or later. For many of the women on the list, their success and innovative thinking are not in spite of their age, but instead, a direct result of it.
The 2022 50 Over 50 presents 200 women across four broad categories—lifestyle, entrepreneurs, impact, and money—and dozens of sub-sectors. The women on this list have founded companies in industries such as manufacturing, retail, and enterprise technology.
In the two years since opening nominations, the 50 Over 50 has received thousands of nominations from the general public, and it has also solicited the insight of the Forbes and Know Your Value journalists about which dynamic women are the most forward-thinking and impactful people on their beats.
Jayshree Ullal, CEO, Arista
$1.9B (Real Time Net Worth as of 10/8/22 #1457 in the world today)
Jayshree Ullal has been president and CEO of Arista Networks, a computer networking firm, since 2008. She joined the board of directors of Snowflake, a cloud computing company that went public in September 2020. The publicly-traded company recorded revenue of $2.3 billion in 2020, a decrease of nearly 4% compared to the fiscal year 2019. Ullal owns about 5% of Arista’s stock, some of which is earmarked for her two children, niece, and nephew. In August 2018, Arista settled a multi-year patent infringement battle with Cisco, Ullal’s former employer, agreeing to pay Cisco $400 million. Born in London and raised in India, she is one of America’s wealthiest female executives.
Manjusha Kulkarni, Cofounder, Stop AAPI Hate
In March 2020, Kulkarni co-founded Stop AAPI Hate, the nation’s leading aggregator of COVID-19-related hate incidents against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. She is also the Executive Director of AAPI Equity Alliance, a coalition of community-based organizations that advocate for the rights and needs of the Asian American community in Southern California. Kulkarni was formerly the executive director of the South Asian Network, an organization dedicated to advancing the health and empowerment of people of South Asian origin in Southern California. It’s one of the oldest South Asian American community-based organizations in the US. Her advocacy focuses on effective policies and practices related to health and healthcare, civil rights, and violence prevention. In 2014, Kulkarni received the White House Champions of Change award for her dedication to improving healthcare access for South Asian Americans.
Revathi Advaithi,CEO, Flex
Advaithi took over as the CEO of global manufacturing and supply-chain company, Flex in 2019. At Flex, Advaithi oversees 200,000 employees and sets the strategic direction for a company earning $26 billion in annual revenue. Prior to joining Flex, Advaithi held leadership positions at Eaton and Honeywell. She serves as a director on the boards of Uber and Catalyst.org and is a member of the MIT Presidential CEO Advisory Board.
Ann Mukherjee CEO, Pernot Ricard North America
Mukherjee became the first industry outsider and first woman of color to assume the position of chair and CEO at wine and spirits company Pernod Ricard North America in 2019. Inspired by her own experiences, Mukherjee launched Absolut’s #SexResponsibly campaign to raise awareness of the connection between responsible drinking and consent and to take a stand against perpetrators who use alcohol as a tool or excuse to commit crimes. Prior to joining Pernod, she held the roles of global CMO and global chief commercial officer at SC Johnson and was responsible for its $12 billion consumer global business division. Mukherjee has also held leadership positions at Kraft Foods and PepsiCo.
Padmasree Warrior Founder, Fable The innovation pro has served as CTO of Cisco and Motorola and is currently the founder-CEO of Fable, a platform for social reading and book clubs. It raised over $28 million in 2021. Warrior previously served as U.S. CEO and chief development officer of NIO, a Chinese electric autonomous vehicle company, where she transitioned the company from start-up to IPO on the New York Stock Exchange in three years. She’s also been busy on the boards of Microsoft and Spotify, mentoring other women in the tech industry and staying in touch with her 1.3 million Twitter followers. A Cornell-trained engineer, she believes a STEM education informs creativity: “Increasingly it’s not about knowing all the answers but asking the right questions and figuring out how to get the right answer.”
Poornima DeBolle , Cofounder, Menlo Security
DeBolle is the co-founder and chief product officer at Menlo Security, a leading cloud and network security company. In 2020, Menlo Security announced it raised $100 million in Series E funding, with a company valuation of $800 million. Before starting Menlo, DeBolle was a product management executive at Juniper Networks, responsible for cloud security, security management, and security analytics. She joined Juniper via its acquisition of Altor Networks, where she was vice president of product management and business development.
Anita Gupta, Founder, KiwiTech
Gupta has dedicated her fifth decade to creating disruptive innovation through her company KiwiTech’s investment in over 500 startups. Gupta is a founder and chief portfolio officer at Kiwitech, a company that helps early to growth-stage startups build viable products, raise capital, and scale their businesses. Gupta is particularly interested in providing training and strategic assistance to female and minority entrepreneurs. Before co-founding Kiwitech, while still in graduate school, Gupta co-founded Aptara, a company focused on digital content production, publishing, editorial services, e-learning, and technology services. In 2012, Aptara was sold for $144 million.
