2026 Virginia Power 50 List

Many of the 50 most powerful people in Virginia are here because they lead major corporations, such as Fortune 100 mainstays like General Dynamics and Freddie Mac, and the privately owned candy and pet care giant Mars, whose partial owner Jacqueline Mars lands on our list due to her personal wealth. Others are influential public servants — including newly inaugurated Gov. Abigail Spanberger and veteran legislators U.S. Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner.
Still others lead the state’s health care institutions and major universities or are Virginia’s highest-ranking executives at multinational corporations, such as Amazon.com and Google.

As in every year, the 2026 list has some changes from its predecessor. Absent, for example, are executives who retired or resigned. These include George L. Holm, who retired as CEO of Performance Food Group at the end of 2025, and former University of Virginia President Jim Ryan, whose June 2025 resignation under political pressure has created a ripple effect at the state’s flagship university. New to this year’s list are CACI International President and CEO John Mengucci, whose company landed on the 2025 Fortune 500, and Kenny Smith, Freddie Mac’s new CEO.

As with the Virginia 500, to report the most accurate power elite, we don’t adjust this list for diversity or geography. It mirrors the larger landscape of American business and political leadership, skewing largely white and male, as well as primarily representing Virginia’s largest metro areas comprising its “Golden Crescent.”

Read on to learn which leaders made the cut this year.