The appointment of Indian-born Satya Nadella as Microsoft chief executive increases the diversity of those heading up Fortune 500 companies, but the top levels of U.S. business remain dominated by white males. Nadella, previously executive vice president of Microsoft's Cloud and Enterprise group, joined Microsoft in 1992. He replaces Steve Ballmer, who last August said he would retire once a successor was found. According to figures from consultancy DiversityInc, Nadella will become the ninth Asian chief executive of a Fortune 500 company, bumping up the region's representation on the list to 1.8% of the total. DiversityInc says there are six black chief executives and eight Latino chief executives, who represent respectively 1.2% and 1.6% of the total Fortune 500 list respectively. There are 23 women in the Fortune 500, according to CNNMoney, making up 4.6% of the list. Browse our gallery to see other non-white business leaders from the Fortune 500 list.
Courtesy Microsoft
Kenneth Frazier, Merck & Co —
The U.S. government is led by a black American -- Barack Obama. But African-American chief executives remain rare in business. One who has broken through the dominance of white males in the Fortune 500 is Kenneth Frazier of Merck, who took the top role in 2011.
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Roger W. Ferguson, TIAA-CREF —
Another black leader is Roger W. Ferguson, Jr, who heads financial services giant TIAA-CREF. Ferguson was vice chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve from 1999 to 2006 and was tipped as a possible successor to Alan Greenspan, but took over as chief executive of TIAA-CREF in 2008.
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Kenneth Chenault, American Express —
Kenneth Chenault has been leading American Express since 2001, when he became the third African-American chief executive of a Fortune 500 company.
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How Microsoft boss will increase diversity —
President and chief executive of McDonald's, Don Thompson, has worked his way up the company, since joining as an electrical engineer in 1990. He grew up in impoverished Cabrini-Green housing projects in Chicago.
Courtesy: McDonald's Corporation
Ursula Burns, Xerox —
Ursula Burns, chairman and chief executive of Xerox, is listed as Forbes 14th most powerful woman in the world. Burns joined Xerox in 1980 as a summer intern, according to the company website, before working her way up to be named chief executive in 2009.
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Indra Nooyi, PepsiCO —
Indian-born PepsiCo chairman and chief executive Indra Nooyi sits at number 10 in the Forbes list of the world's most powerful women. Nooyi has expanded the business beyond soda to include fast-growing categories like yogurt and hummus. Pepsi today boasts 22 billion-dollar brands.
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Ajay Banga, MasterCard —
Ajay Banga joined MasterCard in 2009. The former chief executive officer of Citigroup Asia Pacific began his career in India, where he worked for Nestle for 13 years.
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Joseph Mario Molina, Molina Healthcare —
Joseph M. Molina, who DiversityInc names as one of the Fortune 500's few Latino leaders, took over as chief executive of Molina Healthcare Inc. in 1996, after the death of his father and the founder of the company, C. David Molina. The company focuses on the special needs of low-income patients.
