Who’s more powerful: the autocratic leader of a
former superpower or the handcuffed commander in
chief of the most dominant country in the world?
This year the votes for the World’s Most Powerful went
to Russian President Vladimir Putin. He climbs one
spot ahead of U.S. President Barack Obama, who held
the title in 2012.
Here is Forbes list of the most powerful people in the
world. Surprisingly the lists sees Russian President
Putin clinch the top spot and US President Obama
below as number 2.
Putin has solidified his control over Russia while
Obama’s lame duck period has seemingly set in earlier
than usual for a two-term president — latest example:
the government shutdown mess.
Anyone watching this year’s chess match over Syria
and NSA leaks has a clear idea of the shifting individual
power dynamics.
The Most Powerul People in the World list is an annual
snapshot of the heads of state, financiers,
philanthropists and entrepreneurs who truly rule the
world.
It represents the collective wisdom of top FORBES
editors, who consider hundreds of nominees before
ranking the planet’s top 72 power-brokers – one for
every 100 million people on Earth — based on their
scope of influence and their financial resources
relative to their peers.
This year’s list features 17 heads of state who run
nations with a combined GDP of some $48 trillion —
including the three most powerful people, Putin,
Obama and Xi Jinping, the general secretary of the
Communist Party of China.
The 27 CEOs and chairs control over $3 trillion in
annual revenues, and 12 are entrepreneurs, including
new billionaires on the list, Nigeria’s Aliko Dangote (No.
64), founder of Dangote Group, and Oracle’s Larry
Ellison (No. 58).
Speaking of, this year’s class has 28 billionaires valued
in excess of $564 billion. Here, a quick peek at the
Most Powerful People in the World 2013:
Newcomers: Among the 13 newcomers are Pope
Francis (No. 4), Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-Hee (No.
41), Volkswagen’s Martin Winterkorn (No. 49), South
Korean President Park Geun-hye (No. 52), IBM CEO
Virginia Rometty (No. 56), and Janet Yellen (No. 72),
nominated by President Obama as the next leader of
the U.S. Federal Reserve.
Rosneft CEO and Putin confidant Igor Sechin (No. 60)
and Jill Abramson (No. 68), the executive editor of the
New York Times, make a return appearance after
dropping of the list in years past.
He’s Not No. 1: This is the first year that Putin carries
the crown. Obama has been on the top of the list for
every year with the exception of 2010, when Hu
Jintao, the former political and military leader of
China, was No. 1.
Women Moving Up In Numbers:
This year there are nine women on the list,
representing 12% of the world’s most powerful — in
stark contrast to being 50% of the world’s population.
Both 2011 and 2012 featured six women leaders, and
the inaugural list from 2009 included only 3 — or just
4.4%.
Recently elected Park of South Korea joins the other
female heads of state German Chancellor Angela
Merkel (No.5), Brazil’s Dilma Rousseff (No. 20) and de
facto head of India Sonia Gandhi (No. 21).
Two of the world’s most important NGO’s are run by
women: Christine Lagarde (No. 35) leads the IMF and
Margaret Chan (No. 59) steers the World Health
Organization.
Billionaires: Worth a cumulative $564 billion. Sure
they’re rich but many of these billionaires deserve
special attention for their philanthropic work,
including Warren Buffett (No. 13), Michael Bloomberg
(No. 29), Li Ka-shing (No. 30), Charles and David Koch
(No. 31), and Mohammed Ibrahim (No. 71).
Entrepreneurs Represent: There are 12 in total. As
expected, many are headquartered on the West Coast:
Google’s Larry Page and Sergey Brin (No. 17), Mark
Zuckerberg (No. 24), Elon Musk (No. 47), Ellison and
Reid Hoffman (No. 65).
Global entrepreneurial spirit spans from Japan’s
Masayoshi Son (No. 45) and China’s Robin Li (No. 61)
to Africa’s Dangote and Ibrahim.
Year-over-year growth: The FORBES Most Powerful
started in 2009, seeking to answer a straight yet
complex question:
What is the true nature of power and can we really
compare and rank heads of state with religious figures
and drug traffickers?
The premise has always been to select one person for
every 100 million on the planet.
The first list had 67 slots. This year we are up to 72.
At this fifth edition, it’s notable that most of the
leaders who made the top 10 on the inaugural list are
still on today: Obama, Putin, Bill Gates (No. 6), U.S.
Fed Chair Ben Bernanke (No. 7), the King of Saudi
Arabia (No. 8), Wal-Mart CEO Michael Duke (No. 10),
richest man in the world Carlos Slim Helu (No. 12),
Page and Brin, and Rupert Murdoch (No. 33).
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