World’s most influential LGBTQ+ business leaders named by Fortune magazine

Sep 18
Written by Erik Niewiarowski

Fortune magazine has unveiled its inaugural list of the top LGBTQ+ leaders in business. (Getty Images/Coty/PinkNews)

Global business magazine Fortune has published its first list of influential LGBTQ+ leaders.

The listing spans tech, beauty, entertainment, fashion and pharmaceuticals, showcasing the importance of visibility and diversity in leadership.

While Fortune is known for its rankings, this is the first time LGBTQ+ chief executives, founders and other executive at companies with revenues of at least $100 million (£75.6 million) have been recognised in this way.

Twenty per cent of those on the Fortune LGBTQ+ Leaders list are women and it boasts a “better than expected racial diversity”. Two openly transgender leaders, beauty company Coty’s chief executive Sue Nabi, and Martine Rothblatt, who founded biotech firm United Therapeutics, are notable inclusions.

“Representation matters,” says Alex Wood Morton, the executive editor at Fortune and co-creator of the list. “Today’s businesses should reflect who we are and our shared values. The inaugural Fortune LGBTQ+ Leaders list is a marker of how far we’ve come and how much work still needs to be done.”

Many chief executives, despite being publicly out, prefer not to attach their personal lives to their businesses because of potential repercussions. In many fast-growing economies and heavyweights, such as Russia and China, being openly out at work can be life-threatening.

Commenting on the list, Dame Julia Hoggett, the first openly gay chief executive of the London Stock Exchange said: “If you have the privilege of being a senior leader, then you must use that privilege to speak up for those who are less able, or feel they are less able, to do so.

“I have learnt that the braver I am, the braver I get, and that by speaking out I can help others to realise that there is a greater world of opportunity out there for them too.”