Fortune Magazine names the 50 most powerful women in business

Powerful. That's the word to describe the 2012 list of the 50 most powerful women in business. The list is published in the Oct. 8 issue of Fortune Magazine.

At No. 1 is Ginny Rometty, the president and CEO of IBM. Maintaining the No. 2 spot from last year, Indra Noovi, the chair and CEO of PepsiCo.

Hewlett-Packard president and CEO Meg Whitman rose to the third position while the chairman and CEO's of Kraft Food Irene Rosenfeld and DuPont's Ellen Kullman round out the top five.

One noticeable drop was Oprah Winfrey who held the 16th spot last year and now is dead last at 50th on this year's list.

Fortune's editors decide the list based on several factors including the company's size and the importance of the business in the global economy and the company's health and direction.

Here is the complete list of top women executives.

Here are the top 25:

1    Ginni Rometty    IBM
2    Indra Nooyi    PepsiCo
3    Meg Whitman    Hewlett-Packard
4    Irene Rosenfeld    Kraft Foods
5    Ellen Kullman    DuPont
6    Patricia Woertz    ADM
7    Ursula Burns    Xerox
8    Sheryl Sandberg    Facebook
9    Abigail Johnson    Fidelity Investments
10    Safra Catz    Oracle
11    Melanie Healey    P&G
12    Anne Sweeney    Disney/ABC Television Group
13    Rosalind Brewer    Wal-Mart Stores
14    Marissa Mayer    Yahoo
15    Carol Meyrowitz    TJX Cos.
16    Phebe Novakovic    General Dynamics
17    Sheri McCoy    Avon Products
18    Susan Wojcicki    Google
19    Marillyn Hewson    Lockheed Martin
20    Denise Morrison    Campbell Soup Co.
21    Gisel Ruiz    Wal-Mart Stores
22    Carrie Tolstedt    Wells Fargo
23    Bridget Van Kralingen    IBM
24    Mary Callahan Erdoes    JP Morgan Chase
25    Jan Fields    McDonald's USA

See the full list here: http:// on.wews.com / OHknzw