Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook

Net Worth: The worth of her unvested Facebook stock has been estimated at $2.7 billion, but is likely lower, as Facebook's stock price has shifted.

How She Got To Where She Is: The two-time Harvard graduate began as a management consultant to the White House during Bill Clinton's tenure, and later joined Google as the Vice President of Global Online Sales & Operations. After being hired by Mark Zuckerberg and slotted in as COO, she made it her goal to make Facebook more profitable, which netted her a spot on Facebook's Board of Directors earlier this year — the only one held by a woman.

Notable Accomplishments: Remember all that hubbub about women not being able to have it all? Sheryl's become famously successful at doing such a good job of balancing family and work that she never misses a dinner with her kids. 

And That's Not All... Sheryl's first book, Lean In, will be out early next year. In it, the top dog will offer advice to women working their way through the corporate ranks, and encourage them to "lean in" and make their way toward the top.

Key to Success: Always look ahead. The way Sheryl sees it, the more women reach higher positions within companies, the more women will create workplaces that allow females to care to all facets of their life. And, with the voices in the conversation about women in the workplace growing louder and more diverse, daily, that's something we're totally up for. 

Photo: Courtesy of Facebook