Top 100 Corporate Women
Top 100 Corporate Women 2024
Petri Hofsté is, for the seventh time, after an interlude, once again the most influential woman in Dutch business. What is more: a concentration of golden skirts prevents rejuvenation and diversification of the female contingent in Dutch boardrooms.
You can read our analysis of the list here.
(3) Petri Hofsté
Petri Hofste is back from a (very brief) absence to once again fill the position as leader of the Top-100 Corporate Women, having held this position six times before. Hofsté is making a comeback on the list this year with a new supervisory board position at FrieslandCampina. The supervisory position at the dairy giant replaces the position in Hofste’s portfolio of Fugro, the soil research company, where she stepped down last year at the end of her term. Hofsté is also member of the supervisory boards of mobility company Pon Holdings, Rabobank and insurer Achmea.
(1) Herna Verhagen
At No. 2 we find Herna Verhagen, the leader of last year’s list. Verhagen has been CEO of PostNL for 12 years and is currently serving her fourth term. She needs to deal with critical investors and a major shareholder. Even so Verhagen manages to find time for her supervisory positions at Philips (don’t mention the Apnea!), ING and Het Concertgebouw.
(2) Pauline van der Meer Mohr
Pauline van der Meer Mohr is a Supervisory Director of supermarket giant Ahold Delhaize, chip machine manufacturer ASMI and insurer NN. She drops one place this year, partly due to resigning from her supervisory directorship at Viatris and the selection committee of the Supreme Court of the Netherlands. Van der Meer Mohr still has room in her portfolio, so perhaps we will see her rise again next year?
(4) Miriam van Dongen
Miriam van Dongen once again ranks fourth in this year's Top 100 Corporate Women. Her supervisory portfolio is diverse. Insurance company Achmea, the Land Registry, online payment service provider Mollie, derivatives trader Optiver... It was being able to immerse herself in different companies at the same time that was one of the reasons for her decision, after holding a number of CFO positions, to only hold non-executive positions from 2009.
(6) Carin Gorter
Last year, Carin Gorter entered the list out of nowhere, in sixth place. This year, she continues her rise and manages to reach the top 5. She supervises companies from a variety of sectors, including bus manufacturer Ebusco, technology company TKH Group, gym chain Basic-Fit and insurer DAS Holding. In addition, she chairs the audit committee at all of these companies.
See full list 
Justification
A female director is eligible if she holds one or more positions as a Supervisory Board member or Director with the most important businesses in the Netherlands. By this, we mean companies that are listed on the AEX, AMX (MidCap), or AScX (SmallCap) index and unlisted companies with equity in excess of 1 billion Euros. Foreign women are only eligible if they hold an executive position or at least two non-executive positions in these companies.
Allocation of Points
All women are awarded points based on the amount of equity held by the companies where they hold a position. Executive positions for these businesses are worth more points than supervisory roles. In addition, the non-executive directors receive points for Chairmanships of Supervisory Boards or Executive Boards and Chairmanships of audit, remuneration and nomination committees.
In line with the corporate governance code for large companies, we assume a maximum of five points for supervisory positions: two for a chairmanship and one for a membership, together a full time commitment. A CEO gets five points.
Finally, points are awarded for supervisory roles for large overseas companies, universities, universities of applied science, hospitals, and other large businesses.
Cut-off Date
The cut-off date for the rankings is 1 May 2024.