Fortune 500 2008
Top 50
Top 50
Wal-Mart's on top. Which other companies made the top 50 this year? (more)
Best big companies to work for
Best big companies to work for
See more than 30 companies that made both the Fortune 1000 and Best Companies to Work For lists this year. (more)
Faces of the future
Faces of the future
These twentysomethings may not have a ton of experience, but you'd never know it from their job descriptions. (more)
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Patricia Woertz
Title: Chairman, President and CEO
Company: Archer Daniels Midland
Company rank: 52
Age: 55
Compensation: $7.6 million

Patricia Woertz doesn't let convention drive her career choices. For much of her professional life, she's worked in male-dominated fields, including 30 years devoted to the oil industry. And in her latest stint as CEO of Archer Daniels Midland, the former Chevron executive vice president is proving she can take on just about any challenge--even agriculture, an industry she never worked in before she became CEO in May 2006.

As Woertz learns about harvesting soy, wheat and corn crops, she's also busy making deals that will allow the company to commercially produce corn-based, biodegradable plastic.


NEXT: Indra Nooyi
Last updated April 24 2008: 10:52 AM ET
Compensation figures include salary, bonus, deferred compensation, non-equity incentive plan, pension and exercised options, according to most recent data available. Figures are for 2007, unless otherwise noted.