Linda Johnson Rice

Linda Johnson graduated from the University of Southern California's School of Journalism and, in 1987, earned a master's degree in management from Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Management. Two days later she was named president and chief operating officer of her father's businesses, Fashion Fair Cosmetics and Johnson Publishing Company. She took over as CEO in 2002. Fashion Fair is the largest black-owned cosmetics firm in the world, with 2,500 stores on three continents. Worth $350 million and employing 2,000 people, Johnson Publishing is the largest black-owned publishing firm in the world. Its holdings include Ebony and Jet magazines, which together are read in half the black households in America.