64. Meg Whitman: CEO and Political Hopeful

One of the wealthiest women in the United is Meg Whitman, Chief Executive Officer of Hewlett-Packard. is an Ivy League educated individual who is fourth richest woman in the state of California, is listed No. 20 on Forbes list of women in the United States. She is a of Princeton University, where she earned her Bachelor's in Economics in 1977. After Princeton, Whitman earned MBA at Harvard Business School in 1979. She wanted to study medicine, but changed majors early Princeton.

Whitman has found success wherever she has . She began her career working at Proctor and before joining the Walt Disney Corporation where she as vice-president of strategic planning in 1989. She worked for Stride Rite, and Hasbro Corporations. Her success was during a 10-year period working for .

When Whitman took eBay over in 1998, the auction, and retail business was doing approximately $4 in sales annually. When she left the company 2008, the business had grown to an $8 giant. EBay went from employing 30 employees in to employing more than 15,000 during her tenure CEO at the company. Whitman won several awards her work at eBay, and Forbes Magazine placed in the top five most powerful women in country.

Whitman is a moderate Republican, who endorsed Romney's failed presidential campaign in 2008. She ran governor of California in 2010, but lost to Brown. She hopes to run for president in future, and is listed as one of the likely women to become president of the United .