4. Ursula Burns

Designation: Chairman and CEO, Xerox

Burns is the first African American woman to head a Fortune 500 company. She too started her career in 1981 much like her IBM counterpart. Her dramatic rise from starting as a summer intern to being named the CEO in 2009 happened. Along the way, she occupied several leadership roles. She was at the helm of affairs when Xerox acquired Affiliated Computer Services for $6.4 billion.

With the basic pay over a million, her total salary adds up to $13.1 million including incentives, stock awards and equity plan. She was a board member of Exxon Mobil, American Express, Boston Scientific, FIRST, National Association of Manufacturers, University of Rochester, and the MIT Corporation.

5. Safra Ada Catz

Designation: Co-president & CFO, Oracle

The Israel born Safra Ada Catz joined Oracle in 1999 and is presiding over as its CEO since 2004. She is also the chief financial officer since 2011. She played a key role in the acquisition of rival PeopleSoft.

She is also an independent non-executive director at HSBC Holdings since 2008. Last year, she became a member of executive council at TechNet. She was the director of PeopleSoft Inc and Stellent Inc as well.