On January 15, Mary Barra (51) became the first woman CEO of General Motors (GM) and also the first female to lead a global automotive company. She took over from Dan Akerson, who held the position since 2010. Barra joined GM more than three decades ago as a college intern and, prior to her appointment as CEO, was global VP for product development. The Wall Street Journal reported that GM was now the largest company by revenue to be run by a woman – the group reported sales of $152-billion last year.