Lonely at the top: about 7% of North Carolina's largest public companies are led by women.

• Position: TAKING INVENTORY

With Carolyn Logan's departure from Salix Pharmaceuticals Inc.; the women in charge at North Carolina's 75 largest public companies could fit in a sedan. Five out of 75 is a slightly higher ratio than the Fortune 500 companies, in which 5% have female chiefs. During her 12 years, Raleigh-based Salix went from less than $25 million in revenue to $1 billion. Canada-based Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. offered $15.8 billion in March for Salix, or $173 per share. That's a 15-fold return since Salix went public for $11 in 2000. Two other female CEOs in North Carolina are in the spotlight. Charlotte-based Duke Energy Corp. CEO Lynn Good guides the nation's largest electric utility as it considers how to pay massive charges for removing coal ash from generating sites. Reynolds American Inc. CEO Susan Cameron is overseeing the Winston-Salem-based tobacco company's $27 billion purchase of...