Low-key BHP, ANZ and Stockland director Christine O’Reilly sits on top of this year’s BOSS list of most powerful directors, while fellow Stockland director Melinda Conrad (also on the board at ASX and Ampol) tops our influence list.

But after Richard Goyder’s decision to stand down from Qantas, the data shows that the era of all-powerful chairmen sitting on multiple boards – think David Gonski, Lindsay Maxsted, Michael Chaney, Jac Nasser, David Murray, Graham Bradley and Gordon Cairns – may well be coming to an end.