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As CEO of the $96 billion Sam’s Club, Latriece Watkins is testing her mettle at the warehouse retailer that produced CEOs for Walmart, Target, and Walgreens

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Jeff Bezos wants the bottom half of earners to pay zero income tax—he says nurses making just $75K should save $12K a year

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As AI slashes white-collar jobs, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff says almost no one is being hired—except in sales

1

As CEO of the $96 billion Sam’s Club, Latriece Watkins is testing her mettle at the warehouse retailer that produced CEOs for Walmart, Target, and Walgreens

2

Jeff Bezos wants the bottom half of earners to pay zero income tax—he says nurses making just $75K should save $12K a year

3

As AI slashes white-collar jobs, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff says almost no one is being hired—except in sales
MPWMost Powerful Women

You don’t need an MBA to be an MPW

By
Caroline Fairchild
Caroline Fairchild
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By
Caroline Fairchild
Caroline Fairchild
Down Arrow Button Icon
September 19, 2014, 7:31 AM ET
Oracle OpenWorld Conference
Safra Catz, co-CEO of Oracle Corp., is among the 63% of women on Fortune's Most Powerful Women in Business list that did not go to business school. Avelar/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesPhotograph by Avelar—Bloomberg via Getty Images

mpw-mba

Nearly half of the women on Fortune’s Most Powerful Women in Business list are CEOs, leading and in many cases transforming their companies. Despite the record number of women CEOs on this year’s list, more than half of Fortune’s Most Powerful Women are running their companies without a Master’s of Business Administration degree.

Only 18 women on Fortune’s list of the top 50 women in business attended a business school graduate program, Fortune found after compiling the education backgrounds of 49 women on the list (Ross CEO Barbara Rentler would not disclose her education information). IBM CEO Ginni Rometty, Archer Daniels Midland CEO Pat Woertz and newly-appointed Oracle co-CEO Safra Catz are among the women on this year’s list without the degree. Some, like Catz, did opt for other professional educations in the field of law. But as the cost of a professional degree comes under more and more scrutiny, it’s worth noting that some of Fortune’s MPWs opted against one–and did just fine.

Check out Fortune’s Most Powerful Women in Business list here.

Graphic by Analee Kasudia

About the Author
By Caroline Fairchild
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