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September 26, 2025

Earlier this week, I wrote about Safra Catz’s exit from Oracle’s CEO position. She was leaving on top, with the tech giant’s stock up 500% since she became sole CEO in 2019—and with the company poised to soar to new heights amid an AI boom.


We have terms for when a women can’t get the top job (glass ceiling) and when she gets the position only when it’s a lost cause (glass cliff). But I wasn’t sure what to call this scenario: when a female CEO steps aside at the peak of her influence.


Thankfully, some of you wrote in with suggestions and shared them with me on LinkedIn. Below, the best candidates for this, for now, still outlier scenario.


Glass elevator
The glass handoff
The glass ladder
(Maybe these three work when the person taking over is also a woman.)


The crystal bridge
“Something strong and shiny and inviting for her successor to step onto.”


A glass..of champagne


Glass castle
She hands over the keys to something she built.


A queen’s exit
The diamond exit
No “glass” here.


The golden handoff
Not to be confused with golden handcuffs.


Tell me your favorite!


Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com


The Most Powerful Women Daily newsletter is Fortune’s daily briefing for and about the women leading the business world. Subscribe here.


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ALSO IN THE HEADLINES


Amazon is getting into the menopause business. The tech giant's One Medical is introducing a menopause and perimenopause care program at its primary care clinics. Fierce Healthcare


We can thank the Jonas Brothers for a new women's sports milestone. The Phoenix Mercury-Minnesota Lynx playoff series is going to four games—which meant a Jonas Brothers concert at Phoenix's arena was rescheduled. Over most of the WNBA's history, the playoff game would have been moved elsewhere while a concert would have been prioritized. CBS Sports


Suzy Welch finds a mismatch between the values of Gen Z and employers' values. The business school professor known for her "Becoming You" course found that only 2% of Gen Z has in their top five values the traits most valued by employers. Gen Z says employers should adjust their values, but in the meantime there's a hiring mismatch. Fortune


Boards are hiring white men again. White men made up a majority of new board directors appointed this year at S&P 500 companies for the first time since 2017. Bloomberg


ON MY RADAR


Trump's 'tough it out' advice to expectant moms is the latest example of men opining on women's pain AP


Why corporate America is caving to Trump New York Times


The misunderstood genius of Taylor Swift Wall Street Journal



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PARTING WORDS


"We will play for each other and we will give everything for each other on Saturday."


— Alex Tessier, Canadian rugby player. The team was crowdfunded—and now it's in the World Cup finals


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