Ana Botín

One of the most powerful women in global finance ceded some of her influence this year. The fourth-generation executive chair of the Spanish banking giant since 2014, Botín has traditionally called the shots—and wielded more power than the chief executive. But in February, to comply with “expectations” from European regulators, Santander reassigned some of Botín’s operational authority to its CEO (who now reports only to the board, instead of also to her). Botín told Fortune in May that she still has “all the transformation levers” at Santander, where she continues to run the strategy and technology units and remains the most prominent public face. The bank generated $79 billion in revenue in 2021, and saw both revenue and profits rise, on an annual basis, in the first six months of 2022.