Meet The Most Powerful Women In The World
Who runs the world in 2017? Forbes has released the list of 100 most powerful women in 2017.
And for the seventh consecutive year, German Chancellor Angela Merkel retains the top spot on this year’s class of female leaders. After Merkel is an unexpected newcomer, U.K. Prime Theresa May, who is leading her country through Brexit, a historic, complex and transformative time for the country and the European Union. May is followed by Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, who, along with her husband Bill, has distributed more than $40 billion in grants to date and supports organizations in over 100 countries. Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg (No. 4) and GM CEO Mary Barra (No. 5) round out the top five.
This year’s list has 23 newcomers, a record for the Forbes Power Women list, with new women stepping into power in politics, technology, business and media.
In the No. 19 spot, Ivanka Trump is the second highest ranked newcomer. Her step-mother Melania has mostly abdicated the first-lady spotlight (and doesn’t appear on this year’s list) but Ivanka has become a key player in the Donald Trump White House. And while her father might not always heed her advice, she is targeting policy areas such as paid family leave, promotion of women in science and female entrepreneurship.
As with every year, four metrics were used: money (either net worth, company revenues, assets, or GDP); media presence; spheres of influence; and impact, analyzed both within the context of each woman’s field (media, technology, business, philanthropy/NGOs, politics, and finance) and outside of it.
While they may still be in the minority when it comes to leadership, the women on this list are making real changes. That should give everyone hope for the coming year.
The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women
- Angela Merkel, 63
- Theresa May, 61
- Melinda Gates, 53
- Sheryl Sandberg, 48
- Mary Barra, 55
- Susan Wojcicki, 49
- Abigail Johnson, 55
- Christine Lagarde, 61
- Ana Patricia Botín, 57
- Ginni Rometty, 60
- Indra Nooyi, 62
- Meg Whitman, 61
- Angela Ahrendts, 57
- Laurene Powell Jobs, 54
- Tsai Ing-wen, 61
- Michelle Bachelet, 66
- Federica Mogherini, 44
- Safra Catz, 55
- Ivanka Trump
- Adena Friedman, 48
- Oprah Winfrey, 63
- Marillyn Hewson, 63
- Isabelle Kocher, 50
- U.S. Supreme Court Justices
- Ruth Porat, 60
- Queen Elizabeth II, 91
- Anna Wintour, 68
- Ho Ching, 64
- Emma Walmsley, 48
- Sheikh Hasina Wajed, 70
- Beata Maria Szydlo, 54
- Chanda Kochhar, 56
- Aung San Suu Kyi, 72
- Lucy Peng, 44
- Pollyanna Chu, 59
- Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, 55
- Amy Hood, 45
- Jacinda Ardern, 37
- Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, 49
- Jean Liu, 39
- Bonnie Hammer, 67
- Nicola Sturgeon, 47
- Nikki Haley, 45
- Rosalind Brewer, 54
- Gina Rinehart, 63
- Erna Solberg, 56
- Stacey Snider, 56
- Phebe Novakovic, 59
- Elvira Nabiullina, 54
- Beyoncé Knowles, 36
- Peng Liyuan, 55
- Margarita Simonyan, 37
- Mary Callahan Erdoes, 50
- Zhou Qunfei, 47
- Thi Phuong Thao Nguyen, 47
- Lisa Davis, 54
- Roshni Nadar Malhotra, 36
- Güler Sabanci, 62
- Lubna S. Olayan, 62
- Dana Walden, 53
- Katharine Viner, 45
- Feng Ying Wang
- Donna Langley, 49
- Marianne Lake, 48
- Hillary Clinton, 70
- Mingzhu Dong, 63
- Melanie Kreis, 46
- Dalia Grybauskaite, 61
- Priscilla Chan, 32
- Gwynne Shotwell, 53
- Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, 64
- Zanny Minton Beddoes
- Miuccia Prada, 68
- Isabel dos Santos, 44
- Solina Chau, 55
- Lam Wai Ying
- Kathleen Kennedy
- Kersti Kaljulaid, 47
- Arianna Huffington, 67
- Judy Faulkner, 74
- Fabiola Gianotti, 57
- Lynn Good
- Geisha Williams
- Mary Meeker, 58
- Taylor Swift, 27
- ‘Patricia Harris, 61
- Drew Gilpin Faust, 70
- J.K. Rowling, 52
- Eliza Manningham-Buller, 69
- Raja Easa Al Gurg
- Debra Cafaro
- Shobhana Bhartia
- Lee Boo-Jin, 47
- Jenny Lee, 45
- Kirsten Green, 46
- Belinda Johnson, 50
- Priyanka Chopra, 35
- Kathryn Petralia, 47
- Anne Finucan
- Beth Brooke-Marciniak, 58
