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.
Gallery of top ten in rankings 2018
Historical top ten rankings
Note: No list was released for 2017.
| 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 20152 | 20163 | 20184 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barack Obama | Hu Jintao | Barack Obama President of the United States | Vladimir Putin | Xi Jinping General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party | ||||
| 2 | Hu Jintao | Barack Obama President of the United States | Vladimir Putin | Angela Merkel | Barack Obama President of the United States | Angela Merkel Chancellor of Germany | Donald Trump | Vladimir Putin President of Russia | |
| 3 | Vladimir Putin Prime Minister of Russia | Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud | Hu Jintao | Vladimir Putin President of Russia | Xi Jinping General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party | Barack Obama President of the United States | Angela Merkel Chancellor of Germany | Donald Trump President of the United States | |
| 4 | Ben Bernanke | Vladimir Putin Prime Minister of Russia | Angela Merkel Chancellor of Germany | Bill Gates Co-Chair of the Gates FoundationFounder of Microsoft | Francis | Xi Jinping General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party | Angela Merkel Chancellor of Germany | ||
| 5 | Sergey Brin Larry PageCo-Founders of Google | Benedict XVI Pope of the Holy See | Bill Gates Co-Chair of the Gates FoundationFounder of Microsoft | Benedict XVI Pope of the Holy See | Angela Merkel Chancellor of Germany | Xi Jinping General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party | Francis Pope of the Holy See | Jeff Bezos Chairman and CEO of Amazon | |
| 6 | Carlos Slim Chief Executive of Telmex | Angela Merkel Chancellor of Germany | Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud King of Saudi Arabia | Ben Bernanke U.S. Chair of the Federal Reserve | Bill Gates Co-Chair of the Gates FoundationFounder of Microsoft | Janet Yellen U.S. Chair of the Federal Reserve | Bill Gates Co-Chair of the Gates FoundationFounder of Microsoft | Janet Yellen U.S. Chair of the Federal Reserve | Francis Pope of the Holy See |
| 7 | Rupert Murdoch Chairman of News Corporation | David Cameron | Benedict XVI Pope of the Holy See | Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud King of Saudi Arabia | Ben Bernanke U.S. Chair of the Federal Reserve | Bill Gates Co-Chair of the Gates FoundationFounder of Microsoft | Janet Yellen U.S. Chair of the Federal Reserve | Bill Gates Co-Chair of the Gates FoundationFounder of Microsoft | |
| 8 | Mike Duke Chief Executive of Walmart | Ben Bernanke U.S. Chair of the Federal Reserve | Mario Draghi | Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud King of Saudi Arabia | Mario Draghi President of the European Central Bank | David Cameron Prime Minister of the United Kingdom | Larry Page Co-Founder of Google | Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud | |
| 9 | Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud King of Saudi Arabia | Sonia Gandhi | Mark Zuckerberg Founder and CEO of Facebook | Xi Jinping General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party | Mario Draghi President of the European Central Bank | Sergey Brin Larry PageCo-Founders of Google | Narendra Modi | ||
| 10 | Bill Gates Co-Chair of the Gates FoundationFounder of Microsoft | David Cameron Prime Minister of the United Kingdom | Mike Duke Chief Executive of Walmart | David Cameron Prime Minister of the United Kingdom | Larry Page Co-Founder of Google | Mark Zuckerberg Co-Founder of Facebook | Larry Page Co-Founder of Google | ||
Latest list (year 2018)
Listed seven or more times
Listed every time
- Mukesh Ambani
- Lloyd Blankfein
- Michael Bloomberg
- Sergey Brin
- Warren Buffett
- Jamie Dimon
- Larry Fink
- Bill Gates
- Li Ka-shing
- Ali Khamenei
- Angela Merkel
- Rupert Murdoch
- Benjamin Netanyahu
- Larry Page
- Vladimir Putin
- Carlos Slim
Listed eight times
- Bernard Arnault (not listed: 2016)
- Jeff Bezos (not listed: 2009)
- Jeff Immelt (not listed: 2018)
- Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan (not listed: 2009)
- Charles Koch (not listed: 2009)
- Robin Li (not listed: 2009)
- Barack Obama (not listed: 2018)
- Masayoshi Son (not listed: 2009)
- Rex Tillerson (not listed: 2018)
- Mark Zuckerberg (not listed: 2009)
Listed seven times
- Tim Cook (not listed: 2009 and 2010)
- Mario Draghi (not listed: 2009 and 2010)
- Xi Jinping (not listed: 2009 and 2010)
- Christine Lagarde (not listed: 2009 and 2010)
- Lakshmi Mittal (not listed: 2016 and 2018)
- John Roberts (not listed: 2010 and 2011)
- Akio Toyoda (not listed: 2010 and 2011)
See also
- Forbes list of the World's 100 Most Powerful Women
- Time 100
- Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century
- Forbes' list of the world's highest-paid athletes
- Forbes Global 2000
- The World's Billionaires
- 40 Under 40
- QS World University Rankings
External links
- The World's Most Powerful People, Forbes.
References
Noer, Michael; Perlroth, Nicole (11 November 2009). "The World's Most Powerful People". Forbes. Retrieved 2009-11-16. https://www.forbes.com/2009/11/09/world-most-powerful-leadership-power-09-intro.html ↩
Ewalt, David M. (4 November 2015). "The World's Most Powerful People 2015". Forbes. Retrieved 10 May 2018. https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidewalt/2015/11/04/the-worlds-most-powerful-people-2015/ ↩
Ewalt, David M. (14 December 2016). "The World's Most Powerful People 2016". Forbes. Retrieved 10 May 2018. https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidewalt/2016/12/14/the-worlds-most-powerful-people-2016 ↩
Ewalt, David M. (8 May 2018). "The World's Most Powerful People 2018". Forbes. Retrieved 10 May 2018. https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidewalt/2018/05/08/the-worlds-most-powerful-people-2018 ↩