Are These CEOs Having a Good Mother's Day?

For most moms, a traditional Mother’s Day present could mean flowers, a card or a celebratory brunch. But for one select group, a different kind of gift might be more welcome: a better share price.

We’re talking, of course, about America’s CEO moms. These women helm some of the biggest companies in the world. Over a dozen of the blue chips in the S&P 500 are run by women—of which many are mothers, too. That’s a direct result of an increase in women breaking through the corporate glass ceiling. The corner office is still largely a boy's club, but according to Catalyst, a nonprofit organization that works to expand opportunities for women and business, women occupied 15.7% of the corporate officer positions at Fortune 500 companies in 2008. By comparison, in 1995 fewer than 9% of those jobs were held by women.

Furthermore, Dr. Lawrence Pfaff, founder of Pfaff & Associates, a human resources consulting firm in Portage, Mich., conducted a five-year gender study comprised of nearly 2,500 mangers from more than 450 organizations across 19 states. Not only did he find that female managers are better at the so-called softer skills of communication, teamwork, feedback and empowerment, they're also more decisive, better at setting goals, planning and facilitating change -- abilities traditionally ascribed to men.

"Most of the women CEOs that we know of have typically done a darn good job," Pfaff says. " It's very hard to think of any who were huge, massive failures. It's pretty easy to come up with a list of men who were."

Whether a company is run by a mom or dad isn't an overriding reason to invest in it. However, in light of Mother's Day we thought we'd take a look at some of the most impressive mothers in corporate America and how their businesses and share prices are faring. Here, then, are five of the biggest moms in business.