President and CEO

Kids: Three teens

Angela Braly cracked a big hole in the glass ceiling when she rose to become a CEO in the male dominated health insurance industry. Braly began her career in St. Louis as a lawyer in private practice and made the leap to Missouri’s Blue Cross as the company’s general counsel. When WellPoint acquired Blue Cross Blue Shield in 2001 Braly transitioned into the company quickly ascending the ladder at the U.S.'s largest health insurance company. Braly was instrumental in WellPoint’s acquisition of WellChoice in 2005 and in 2007 she was named CEO. WellPoint is the nation’s largest health benefits company in terms of medical membership, with approximately 35 million Americans nationwide covered through its affiliated health plans. It's an industry under scrutiny.

Braly often credits her husband for staying at home to raise the kids with helping her to have it all. She told the Wall Street Journal in 2007, “I so appreciate the choice that he's made -- and he's so good at it. I think this is where we're really sexist. We think, ‘How is this going to work?’ And it's fabulous, it works really well.”