Final answer:
In 2018, there were 24 Fortune 500 companies led by women, signaling a slowly increasing presence of female leadership in major corporations, yet still constituting a small fraction compared to male CEOs.
Step-by-step explanation:
In 2018, the number of Fortune 500 companies led by women was 24. This represents the leaders at the helm of some of the largest and most influential companies in the United States. Despite continued conversations about gender diversity and leadership, women held only around 5% of the CEO positions in these top companies that year. While the participation of women in corporate leadership has slowly been on the rise, it still remains significantly low when compared to their male counterparts.