With CVS’s ouster of CEO Karen Lynch, GM is now the largest Fortune 500 business led by a female CEO

Then, on Friday, Lynch lost her job in a surprise ouster by CVS’s board. As my colleague Shawn Tully wrote for Fortune, her tenure “appeared to start brilliantly, then unraveled fast.”

Lynch’s strategy was to make CVS a “one-stop shop” for healthcare. That transition started with CVS’s 2018 $68 billion acquisition of Aetna, which is how former Aetna president Lynch got to the company. Then, as CEO, Lynch made that vision her own; in a 2021 Fortune profile, she told me how her early experiences with the health care system, including caring for an aunt in hospice in her mid-20s and losing her mother to suicide as a child, influenced her dedication to that mission. As CEO, she acquired Medicare-focused primary care network Oak Street Health for $10.5 billion and home health care services provider Signify for $8 billion in 2023. The problem was that CVS overpaid for those companies, putting pressure on its own business to deliver. And a 2023 Fortune story, that put Lynch on the cover of the magazine, asked whether big healthcare getting bigger was good for the rest of the U.S.

Amid a challenging macro environment for insurers this year—the U.S. government reduced payments for Medicare Advantage, for one—CVS started to flounder. It saw a revolving door of executives. Its share price is down 20% so far this year and fell on the news of Lynch’s ouster. Read Shawn’s story for much more detail on the business and health care industry challenges the company has confronted.

And while Lynch’s strategy could still bear fruit, Shawn writes, ultimately CVS decided it was out of time.

Lynch was replaced by David Joyner, who most recently ran CVS’s Caremark pharmacy benefits business; the company also named Roger Farah executive chair, which you can read more about here. Of course, that means CVS has now lost its title as the largest Fortune 500 business (No. 6 on that list) led by a female CEO.

That honor now goes back to General Motors, led by this year’s returning MPW list No. 1 Mary Barra. (Although GM is much smaller than CVS and ranked No. 19 on the Fortune 500—which means the Fortune 500 just barely has a female chief in its top 20.)

While Lynch’s run as CEO is over, her impact on rising female executives will endure. Ultimately, she fell prey to the tough standards imposed on female CEOs: in the Fortune 500, they average 4.5 years in their jobs compared to male CEOs’ 7.2. (Lynch held the CEO title for three years and eight months.) But she still showed a generation of female business leaders how high they can climb.

Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com

The Most Powerful Women Daily newsletter is Fortune’s daily briefing for and about the women leading the business world. Today’s edition was curated by Nina Ajemian. Subscribe here.

ALSO IN THE HEADLINES

– Champs at last. The New York Liberty won their first WNBA championship in 28 seasons last night, defeating the Minnesota Lynx 67-62. The final served as a reminder of what investing in women’s sports can achieve, said team owner Clara Wu Tsai, who bought the team when it played at a suburban county center. NBC

– It’s electric. The Chinese electric vehicle-maker BYD is tackling emerging EV markets—although the U.S. is still trying to keep them out. Stella Li, the company’s No. 2, is executive vice president and the face of its global expansion, handling its relationship with Apple and other high-stakes responsibilities. Bloomberg

– Be prepared (to pay more). Girl Scouts is increasing its dues for the first time in eight years, upping girls’ membership prices from $25 to $65 by 2027. The organization brings in around $800 million each year from cookie sales, but projected $5 million in net operating losses for fiscal 2024. Wall Street Journal

– 10 years in. Founder Emily Weiss reflects on 10 years of building Glossier in this piece. “It wasn’t always a smooth path,” she writes, and she’s embraced a less-hectic and quieter role as executive chair since stepping down as CEO. British Vogue

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

First Citizens Bank named Michelle Draper CMO. Most recently, she was chief marketing and sales strategy officer at Silicon Valley Bank.

Domino’s Pizza named Kate Trumbull executive vice president, chief marketing officer. Most recently, she served as the company’s SVP and chief brand officer.

Greycroft, a venture capital firm, appointed Alex Constantinople as a partner and chief marketing officer. Previously, she was CMO at Zendesk.

CoreWeave, an AI hyperscaler company, appointed Michelle O’Rourke as chief people officer. Currently, she is the company’s senior director of human resources.

Masimo, a medical technology company, appointed Wendy Lane to its board of directors. Currently, Lane is chair of Lane Holdings, director of Verisk Analytics, director of YourBio Health, and director of CAC Holdings.

Orchestra, a communications company, acquired Small Girls PR, a consumer public relations agency cofounded by Mallory Blair.

ON MY RADAR

Why this pharma boss isn’t chasing the obesity hype Bloomberg

After the Camp fire, PG&E’s CEO is focused on safety and culture to rebuild the public’s trust Fortune

What do women dream about? This 95-year-old researcher found some clues Washington Post

PARTING WORDS

“Motherhood is the final fight for gender equality.”

— Reshma Saujani, founder of Moms First and Girls Who Code, on the motherhood penalty

This is the web version of the MPW Daily, a daily newsletter for and about the world’s most powerful women. Sign up to get it delivered free to your inbox.