Forbes list of the World's Most Powerful People

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.

Historical top ten rankings

Forbes list of the World's Most Powerful People

	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2018
1	Barack Obama President of the United States	Hu Jintao General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party	Barack Obama President of the United States	Vladimir Putin President of Russia	Xi Jinping General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party
2	Hu Jintao General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party	Barack Obama President of the United States	Vladimir Putin Prime Minister of Russia	Angela Merkel Chancellor of Germany	Barack Obama President of the United States	Angela Merkel Chancellor of Germany	Donald Trump President-elect of the United States	Vladimir Putin President of Russia
3	Vladimir Putin Prime Minister of Russia	Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud King of Saudi Arabia	Hu Jintao General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party	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 U.S. Chair of the Federal Reserve	Vladimir Putin Prime Minister of Russia	Angela Merkel Chancellor of Germany	Bill Gates Co-chair of the Gates Foundation Founder of Microsoft	Francis Pope of the Holy See	Xi Jinping General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party	Angela Merkel Chancellor of Germany
5	Sergey Brin Larry Page Co-founders of Google	Benedict XVI Pope of the Holy See	Bill Gates Co-chair of the Gates Foundation Founder 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 Foundation Founder of Microsoft	Janet Yellen U.S. Chair of the Federal Reserve	Bill Gates Co-chair of the Gates Foundation Founder 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 Prime Minister of the United Kingdom	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 Foundation Founder of Microsoft	Janet Yellen U.S. Chair of the Federal Reserve	Bill Gates Co-chair of the Gates Foundation Founder of Microsoft
8	Mike Duke Chief Executive of Walmart	Ben Bernanke U.S. Chair of the Federal Reserve	Mario Draghi President of the European Central Bank	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 Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia
9	Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud King of Saudi Arabia	Sonia Gandhi President of the Indian National Congress	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 Page Co-founders of Google	Narendra Modi Prime Minister of India
10	Bill Gates Co-chair of the Gates Foundation Founder 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 (2018)

Forbes list of the World's Most Powerful People

<table><thead><tr><th>Order</th><th>Name</th><th>Nationality</th><th>Position/Function</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>1</td><td>Xi Jinping</td><td>China</td><td>General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party</td></tr><tr><td>2</td><td>Vladimir Putin</td><td>Russia</td><td>President of Russia</td></tr><tr><td>3</td><td>Donald Trump</td><td>United States</td><td>President of the United States (left office in 2021, returned in 2025)</td></tr><tr><td>4</td><td>Angela Merkel</td><td>Germany</td><td>Chancellor of Germany (resigned in 2021)</td></tr><tr><td>5</td><td>Jeff Bezos</td><td>United States</td><td>CEO of Amazon</td></tr><tr><td>6</td><td>Pope Francis</td><td>Vatican City/ Argentina</td><td>Bishop of Rome, Pope of the Catholic Church (died in 2025)</td></tr><tr><td>7</td><td>Bill Gates</td><td>United States</td><td>Founder of Microsoft</td></tr><tr><td>8</td><td>Mohammed bin Salman</td><td>Saudi Arabia</td><td>Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia</td></tr><tr><td>9</td><td>Narendra Modi</td><td>India</td><td>Prime Minister of India</td></tr><tr><td>10</td><td>Larry Page</td><td>United States</td><td>Co-founder of Google</td></tr><tr><td>11</td><td>Jerome Powell</td><td>United States</td><td>Chairman of the United States Federal Reserve</td></tr><tr><td>12</td><td>Emmanuel Macron</td><td>France</td><td>President of France</td></tr><tr><td>13</td><td>Mark Zuckerberg</td><td>United States</td><td>CEO of Facebook, Inc (renamed Meta Platforms, Inc in 2021)</td></tr><tr><td>14</td><td>Theresa May</td><td>United Kingdom</td><td>Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (resigned in 2019)</td></tr><tr><td>15</td><td>Li Keqiang</td><td>China</td><td>Premier of China (resigned in 2023)</td></tr><tr><td>16</td><td>Warren Buffett</td><td>United States</td><td>Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway</td></tr><tr><td>17</td><td>Ali Khamenei</td><td>Iran</td><td>Supreme Leader of Iran (died in 2026)</td></tr><tr><td>18</td><td>Mario Draghi</td><td>Italy</td><td>President of the European Central Bank (resigned in 2019)</td></tr><tr><td>19</td><td>Jamie Dimon</td><td>United States</td><td>CEO of JPMorgan Chase</td></tr><tr><td>20</td><td>Carlos Slim</td><td>Mexico</td><td>Chairman of Telmex, Chairman Emeritus of América Móvil</td></tr><tr><td>21</td><td>Jack Ma</td><td>China</td><td>Founder of Alibaba</td></tr><tr><td>22</td><td>Christine Lagarde</td><td>France</td><td>Director of the International Monetary Fund (resigned in 2019)</td></tr><tr><td>23</td><td>Doug McMillon</td><td>United States</td><td>CEO of Walmart</td></tr><tr><td>24</td><td>Tim Cook</td><td>United States</td><td>CEO of Apple Inc.</td></tr><tr><td>25</td><td>Elon Musk</td><td>South Africa, Canada and United States</td><td>Founder and CEO of SpaceX, CEO of Tesla</td></tr><tr><td>26</td><td>Benjamin Netanyahu</td><td>Israel</td><td>Prime Minister of Israel</td></tr><tr><td>27</td><td>Ma Huateng</td><td>China</td><td>Chairman and CEO of Tencent</td></tr><tr><td>28</td><td>Larry Fink</td><td>United States</td><td>Co-founder and CEO of BlackRock</td></tr><tr><td>29</td><td>Akio Toyoda</td><td>Japan</td><td>Chairman of Toyota</td></tr><tr><td>30</td><td>John L. Flannery</td><td>United States</td><td>CEO of General Electric (resigned in 2018)</td></tr><tr><td>31</td><td>António Guterres</td><td>Portugal</td><td>Secretary-General of the United Nations</td></tr><tr><td>32</td><td>Mukesh Ambani</td><td>India</td><td>Chairman of Reliance Industries</td></tr><tr><td>33</td><td>Jean-Claude Juncker</td><td>Luxemburg</td><td>President of the European Commission (resigned in 2019)</td></tr><tr><td>34</td><td>Darren Woods</td><td>United States</td><td>CEO of ExxonMobil</td></tr><tr><td>35</td><td>Sergey Brin</td><td>United States</td><td>Co-founder of Google, President of Alphabet (resigned in 2019)</td></tr><tr><td>36</td><td>Kim Jong-Un</td><td>North Korea</td><td>General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (North Korea)</td></tr><tr><td>37</td><td>Charles Koch</td><td>United States</td><td>Chairman and CEO of Koch, Inc.</td></tr><tr><td>38</td><td>Shinzo Abe</td><td>Japan</td><td>Prime Minister of Japan (resigned in 2020, died in 2022)</td></tr><tr><td>39</td><td>Rupert Murdoch</td><td>United States</td><td>Chairman of News Corp (resigned in 2023)</td></tr><tr><td>40</td><td>Satya Nadella</td><td>United States</td><td>Chairman and CEO of Microsoft</td></tr><tr><td>41</td><td>Jim Yong Kim</td><td>United States</td><td>President of the World Bank (resigned in 2019)</td></tr><tr><td>42</td><td>Stephen A. Schwarzman</td><td>United States</td><td>Chairman and CEO of Blackstone Group</td></tr><tr><td>43</td><td>Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan</td><td>United Arab Emirates</td><td>President of the United Arab Emirates (resigned in 2023)</td></tr><tr><td>44</td><td>Haruhiko Kuroda</td><td>Japan</td><td>Governor of the Bank of Japan (resigned in 2023)</td></tr><tr><td>45</td><td>Abdul Fatah Khalil Al-Sisi</td><td>Egypt</td><td>President of Egypt</td></tr><tr><td>46</td><td>Li Ka-Shing</td><td>Hong Kong</td><td>Chairman of CK Hutchison Holdings (resigned in May 2018)</td></tr><tr><td>47</td><td>Lloyd Blankfein</td><td>United States</td><td>CEO of Goldman Sachs (resigned at the end of 2018)</td></tr><tr><td>48</td><td>Recep Tayyip Erdogan</td><td>Turkey</td><td>President of Turkey</td></tr><tr><td>49</td><td>Bob Iger</td><td>United States</td><td>CEO of The Walt Disney Company</td></tr><tr><td>50</td><td>Michel Temer</td><td>Brazil</td><td>President of Brazil (resigned in 2019)</td></tr><tr><td>51</td><td>Michael Bloomberg</td><td>United States</td><td>Founder and CEO of Bloomberg (resigned in 2023)</td></tr><tr><td>52</td><td>Wang Jianlin</td><td>China</td><td>Chairman, founder, and majority shareholder of Dalian Wanda Group</td></tr><tr><td>53</td><td>Mary Barra</td><td>United States</td><td>Chair of Board and CEO of General Motors</td></tr><tr><td>54</td><td>Moon Jae-in</td><td>South Korea</td><td>President of South Korea (resigned in 2022)</td></tr><tr><td>55</td><td>Masayoshi Son</td><td>Japan</td><td>Founder, chairman and CEO of SoftBank</td></tr><tr><td>56</td><td>Bernard Arnault</td><td>France</td><td>Founder, chairman and CEO of LVMH</td></tr><tr><td>57</td><td>Justin Trudeau</td><td>Canada</td><td>Prime Minister of Canada (resigned in 2025)</td></tr><tr><td>58</td><td>Robin Li</td><td>China</td><td>CEO of Baidu</td></tr><tr><td>59</td><td>Michael Dell</td><td>United States</td><td>Founder, chairman and CEO of Dell Technologies</td></tr><tr><td>60</td><td>Hui Ka Yan</td><td>China</td><td>Chairman and Communist Party secretary of Evergrande Group</td></tr><tr><td>61</td><td>Lee Hsien Loong</td><td>Singapore</td><td>Prime Minister of Singapore (resigned in 2021)</td></tr><tr><td>62</td><td>Bashar al-Assad</td><td>Ba'athist Syria</td><td>President of Syria (removed from office in 2024)</td></tr><tr><td>63</td><td>John Roberts</td><td>United States</td><td>Chief Justice of the United States</td></tr><tr><td>64</td><td>Enrique Peña Nieto</td><td>Mexico</td><td>President of Mexico (resigned in November 2018)</td></tr><tr><td>65</td><td>Kenneth C. Griffin</td><td>United States</td><td>Chairman of Citadel Investment Group</td></tr><tr><td>66</td><td>Aliko Dangote</td><td>Nigeria</td><td>President and CEO of Dangote Group</td></tr><tr><td>67</td><td>Mike Pence</td><td>United States</td><td>Vice President of the United States (left office in 2021)</td></tr><tr><td>68</td><td>Qamar Javed Bajwa</td><td>Pakistan</td><td>de facto Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Armed Forces (retired in 2022)</td></tr><tr><td>69</td><td>Rodrigo Duterte</td><td>Philippines</td><td>President of the Philippines (resigned in 2022)</td></tr><tr><td>70</td><td>Abigail Johnson</td><td>United States</td><td>CEO of Fidelity Investments</td></tr><tr><td>71</td><td>Reed Hastings</td><td>United States</td><td>Founder and chairman of Netflix</td></tr><tr><td>72</td><td>Robert Mueller</td><td>United States</td><td>Special Counsel for the United States Department of Justice (office abolished in 2019)</td></tr><tr><td>73</td><td>Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi</td><td>Iraq</td><td>Self-proclaimed Caliph of the Islamic State (died in 2019)</td></tr><tr><td>74</td><td>Joko Widodo</td><td>Indonesia</td><td>President of Indonesia (resigned in 2024)</td></tr><tr><td>75</td><td>Gianni Infantino</td><td> Switzerland</td><td>President of FIFA</td></tr></tbody></table>