TOP 1O

Market value : US $ 11.78 billion

Taking the helm of New Zealand ’ s most valuable company is no mean feat , but Sukhinder Singh Cassidy has certainly delivered since joining Xero late last year – with the tech company ’ s share price up a staggering 50 % in the past six months alone .

Founded in Wellington in 2006 , the US $ 18 billion tech company provides SMEs with accounting software delivered in the cloud and has 3.7 million global subscribers , with the majority based in New Zealand and Australia .

Arriving at Xero in November 2022 , as one of just six women leading ASX 100 companies , Cassidy carries weighty credentials with more than 25 years of global leadership experience as a CEO , digital leader and board member .

She has experience building and scaling global companies including at ticketing business StubHub , where she served as President , and at Google – where , as President of APAC and Latin America for six years , she launched the tech giant ’ s business in China .

The Silicon Valley-based executive also worked as a manager at Amazon when it was an online bookstore and she has sat on numerous boards including Urban Outfitters , Ericsson , Trip Advisor , J . Crew and fintech Upstart .

Executive experience aside , Sukhinder is also an entrepreneur and investor , having co-founded three Silicon Valley startups , and penned a book on leadership . businesschief . asia 47