Forbes list of the World's Most Powerful People

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Vladimir Putin was ranked the most powerful person 4 times.

Between 2009 and 2018 (with absence in 2017) the business magazine Forbes had compiled an annual list of the world's most powerful people. The list had one slot for every 100 million people, meaning in 2009 there were 67 people on the list, and by 2018, there were 75. Slots were allocated based on the amount of human and financial resources that they had sway over, as well as their influence on world events.[1]

Historical top ten rankings

Note: No list was released for 2017.

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015[2] 2016[3] 2018[4]
1 United States Barack Obama

President of the United States

Increase China Hu Jintao

General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party

Increase United States Barack Obama

President of the United States

Increase Russia Vladimir Putin

President of Russia

Increase China Xi Jinping

General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party

2 China Hu Jintao

General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party

Decrease United States Barack Obama

President of the United States

Increase Russia Vladimir Putin

Prime Minister of Russia

Increase Germany Angela Merkel

Chancellor of Germany

Decrease United States Barack Obama

President of the United States

Increase Germany Angela Merkel

Chancellor of Germany

Increase United States Donald Trump

President-elect of the United States

Decrease Russia Vladimir Putin

President of Russia

3 Russia Vladimir Putin

Prime Minister of Russia

Increase Saudi Arabia Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud

King of Saudi Arabia

Decrease China Hu Jintao

General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party

Decrease Russia Vladimir Putin

President of Russia

Increase China Xi Jinping

General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party

Decrease United States Barack Obama

President of the United States

Decrease Germany Angela Merkel

Chancellor of Germany

Decrease United States Donald Trump

President of the United States

4 United States Ben Bernanke

U.S. Chair of the Federal Reserve

Decrease Russia Vladimir Putin

Prime Minister of Russia

Increase Germany Angela Merkel

Chancellor of Germany

Increase United States Bill Gates

Co-Chair of the Gates Foundation
Founder of Microsoft

Increase Vatican City Francis

Pope of the Holy See

Increase China Xi Jinping

General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party

Decrease Germany Angela Merkel

Chancellor of Germany

5 United States Sergey Brin

United States Larry Page
Co-Founders of Google

Increase Vatican City Benedict XVI

Pope of the Holy See

Increase United States Bill Gates

Co-Chair of the Gates Foundation
Founder of Microsoft

Increase Vatican City Benedict XVI

Pope of the Holy See

Decrease Germany Angela Merkel

Chancellor of Germany

Decrease China Xi Jinping

General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party

Decrease Vatican City Francis

Pope of the Holy See

Increase United States Jeff Bezos

Chairman and CEO of Amazon

6 Mexico Carlos Slim

Chief Executive of Telmex

Increase Germany Angela Merkel

Chancellor of Germany

Decrease Saudi Arabia Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud

King of Saudi Arabia

Increase United States Ben Bernanke

U.S. Chair of the Federal Reserve

Decrease United States Bill Gates

Co-Chair of the Gates Foundation
Founder of Microsoft

Increase United States Janet Yellen

U.S. Chair of the Federal Reserve

Increase United States Bill Gates

Co-Chair of the Gates Foundation
Founder of Microsoft

Increase United States Janet Yellen

U.S. Chair of the Federal Reserve

Decrease Vatican City Francis

Pope of the Holy See

7 Australia Rupert Murdoch

Chairman of

News Corporation

Increase United Kingdom David Cameron

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Decrease Vatican City Benedict XVI

Pope of the Holy See

Decrease Saudi Arabia Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud

King of Saudi Arabia

Decrease United States Ben Bernanke

U.S. Chair of the Federal Reserve

Decrease United States Bill Gates

Co-Chair of the Gates Foundation
Founder of Microsoft

Decrease United States Janet Yellen

U.S. Chair of the Federal Reserve

Decrease United States Bill Gates

Co-Chair of the Gates Foundation
Founder of Microsoft

8 United States Mike Duke

Chief Executive of Walmart

Decrease United States Ben Bernanke

U.S. Chair of the Federal Reserve

Increase Italy Mario Draghi

President of the European Central Bank

Decrease Saudi Arabia Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud

King of Saudi Arabia

Increase Italy Mario Draghi

President of the European Central Bank

Increase United Kingdom David Cameron

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Increase United States Larry Page

Co-Founder of Google

Increase
Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud

Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia

9 Saudi Arabia Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud

King of Saudi Arabia

Increase India Sonia Gandhi

President of the Indian National Congress

Increase United States Mark Zuckerberg

Founder and CEO of Facebook

Increase China Xi Jinping

General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party

Decrease Italy Mario Draghi

President of the European Central Bank

Increase United States Sergey Brin

Increase United States Larry Page
Co-Founders of Google

Increase India Narendra Modi

Prime Minister of India

10 United States Bill Gates

Co-Chair of the Gates Foundation
Founder of Microsoft

Decrease United Kingdom David Cameron

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Increase United States Mike Duke

Chief Executive of Walmart

Increase United Kingdom David Cameron

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Decrease United States Larry Page

Co-Founder of Google

Increase United States Mark Zuckerberg

Co-Founder of Facebook

Decrease United States Larry Page

Co-Founder of Google

Listed seven or more times

Listed every time

Listed eight times

Listed seven times

See also

References

  1. ^ Noer, Michael; Perlroth, Nicole (11 November 2009). "The World's Most Powerful People". Forbes. Retrieved 2009-11-16.
  2. ^ Ewalt, David M. (4 November 2015). "The World's Most Powerful People 2015". Forbes. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  3. ^ Ewalt, David M. (14 December 2016). "The World's Most Powerful People 2016". Forbes. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  4. ^ Ewalt, David M. (8 May 2018). "The World's Most Powerful People 2018". Forbes. Retrieved 10 May 2018.