Reynolds Tobacco Merger Is Biggest Deal Led by Female CEO

When Reynolds American Inc. announced plans to buy Lorillard Inc. for about $25 billion yesterday, it didn’t just mark the biggest tobacco merger in decades. The transaction also was the largest deal ever orchestrated by a woman: Reynolds Chief Executive Officer Susan Cameron.

The event represents a milestone for female executives, even if it’s been slow in coming, said Ashleigh Shelby Rosette, a professor at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business in Durham, North Carolina. While women represent 50 percent of the workforce, they only account for about 5 percent of top leaders, she said. That means they aren’t often in a position to execute a blockbuster deal.