The annual list of the World’s Most Powerful People was release today by Forbes. It includes financiers, heads of states, entrepreneurs and philanthropists. The ranking is based on different factors. Among them are the candidate’s power in multiple spheres, financial resources controlled by the person, number of people influenced by the candidate’s power, as well as whether or not he or she uses these powers actively.
Although U.S. president Barack Obama headed the list over the last couple of years, this time he drops to the second spot. In 2013, the title “Most Powerful Person” goes to Vladimir Putin. The Russian president often relies on his position and power not only in his country, but on the global political scene too. In addition, Putin managed to find a peaceful solution when the States announced that they will attack Syria.
Xi Jinping, the secretary of China’s Communist Party, is the third most powerful person in the world. He is followed by Pope Francis. His power mainly comes from the fact that he is the spiritual leader of about 1.2 billion Catholics. That is actually one sixth of the world’s entire population.
The top five of the ranking is completed by the chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel. This makes Merkel the most powerful woman in the world. Nevertheless, she has dropped with three positions over the last one year.
The world’s most famous billionaire Bill Gates occupies the sixth spot this year. His power and influence comes from the fact that he is the richest person in the world, he is also chair of the one of the biggest computer software companies today and he is greatly involved in philanthropy. Gates is also the most powerful entrepreneur this year.
On the 7th spot is U.S. Fed Chair Ben Bernanke. Right after him is the King of Saudi Arabia (8) and the president of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi (9). Wal-Mart’s CEO Michael Duke takes the 10th position. Currently, Wal-Mart is estimated to employ around 2.2 million people and to enjoy revenue of nearly $445 billion.
United Arab Emirates’ president Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nanyan is the only UAE representative on the list. He is the 34th most influential person in the world this year. The Abu Dhabi ruler is heading the country’s richest emirate and is also among the wealthiest monarchs in the world.
Here’s Forbes top 10 list of this year’s most powerful people in the world:
- Vladimir Putin
- Barack Obama
- Xi Jinping
- Pope Francis
- Angela Merkel
- Bill Gates
- Ben Bernanke
- Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Suad
- Mario Draghi
- Michael Duke
The youngest candidate in the ranking is Facebook’s Mark Zuckerber. Although he is only 29, he is the 24th most powerful person in the world. The oldest is the King of Saudi Arabia, Adbullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud (8) who is 89 years old.
In addition, there are 13 newcomers on the list. They include Pope Francis (4), Samsung’s chairman Lee Kun-Hee (41), Volkswagen’s Martin Winterkorn (49) and others.
