Date: 2024-12-26 Page is: DBtxt003.php txt00003844
People and Power
Forbes List in 2012
The World's Most Powerful People: The 71 Who Shape The World
Burgess COMMENTARY
Peter Burgess
The World's Most Powerful People: The 71 Who Shape The World
There are nearly 7.1 billion people on the planet. These are the 71 men and women who matter the most.
Rank Name/Title Organization Age
1 Barack Obama President United States 51
2 Angela Merkel Chancellor Germany 58
3 Vladimir Putin President Russia 60
4 Bill Gates Co-Chair Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation 57
5 Pope Benedict XVI Pope Roman Catholic Church 85
6 Ben Bernanke Chairman, Federal Reserve United States 59
7 Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al Saud King Saudi Arabia 88
8 Mario Draghi President European Central Bank 65
9 Xi Jinping General Secretary, Communist Party China 59
10 David Cameron Prime Minister United Kingdom 46
11 Carlos Slim Helu & family Honorary Chairman América Móvil 72
12 Sonia Gandhi President, Indian National Congress India 66
13 Li Keqiang Vice Premier China 57
14 Francois Hollande President France 58
15 Warren Buffett CEO Berkshire Hathaway 82
16 Michael Bloomberg Mayor, New York City United States 70 17 Michael Duke CEO Wal-Mart Stores 63
18 Dilma Rousseff President Brazil 65
19 Manmohan Singh Prime Minister India 80
20 Sergey Brin Cofounder, Director Of Special Projects Google 39
20 Larry Page CEO Google 39
21 Ali Hoseini-Khamenei Grand Ayatollah Iran 73
22 Rex Tillerson CEO Exxon Mobil 60
23 Benjamin Netanyahu Prime Minister Israel 63
24 Jeffrey Immelt CEO General Electric 56
25 Mark Zuckerberg Cofounder, Chairman and CEO Facebook 28
26 Rupert Murdoch Chairman and CEO News Corp 81
27 Jeff Bezos CEO Amazon.com 48
28 Ashfaq Parvez Kayani Chief of Army Staff Pakistan 60
29 Mario Monti Prime Minister Italy 69
30 Ban Ki-moon Secretary-General United Nations 68
31 Li Ka-shing Chairman Hutchison Whampoa 84
32 Ali Al-Naimi Oil Minister Saudi Arabia 77
33 Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan President United Arab Emirates 64
34 Jamie Dimon CEO JPMorgan Chase 56
35 Timothy Cook CEO Apple 52
36 Lloyd Blankfein CEO Goldman Sachs Group 58
37 Mukesh Ambani Chairman Reliance Industries 55
38 Christine Lagarde Managing Director International Monetary Fund 56
39 Lou Jiwei Chairman, China Investment Corporation China 62
40 Masaaki Shirakawa Governor, Bank of Japan Japan 63
41 Charles Koch CEO Koch Industries, Inc. 77
41 David Koch Executive Vice President Koch Industries, Inc. 72
42 Larry Fink Cofounder, CEO BlackRock 60
43 Akio Toyoda CEO Toyota Motor 56
44 Kim Jong-un Supreme Leader North Korea 29
45 Jim Yong Kim President World Bank 53
46 Steve Ballmer CEO Microsoft 56
47 Lakshmi Mittal Chairman and CEO ArcelorMittal 62
48 Hugo Chavez President Venezuela 58
49 Sebastian Pinera President Chile 63
50 Bill Clinton Chairman Clinton Global Initiative 66
51 Bill Gross Cofounder and Co-Chief Investment Officer Pacific Investment Management Company LLC 68
52 Zaheer ul-Islam Director-General, Inter-Services Intelligence Pakistan 56
53 Masayoshi Son CEO Softbank 55
54 Enrique Pena Nieto President Mexico 46
55 Terry Gou CEO Hon Hai Precision 62
56 Bernard Arnault Chairman and CEO LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton 63
57 Rostam Ghasemi President OPEC 48
58 Margaret Chan Director-General World Health Organization 65
59 John Roberts Chief Justice, U.S. Supreme Court United States 57
60 Yoshihiko Noda Prime Minister Japan 55
61 Dmitry Medvedev Prime Minister Russia 47
62 Jiang Zemin Former General Secretary, Communist Party China 86
63 Joaquin Guzman Loera Drug Trafficker Sinaloa Cartel 55
64 Robin Li Founder and CEO Baidu 44
65 John Boehner Speaker, U.S. House of Representatives United States 63
66 Elon Musk Founder, CEO SpaceX 41
67 Alisher Usmanov Founder Metalloinvest 59
68 Kathleen Sebelius Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services United States 64
69 Joseph Blatter President FIFA 76
70 Alexey Miller CEO Gazprom 50
71 Reid Hoffman Chairman LinkedIn Corp 45