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THE FORBES MOST powerful person in the world list is out and this year the title went to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Credit: Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP/Press Association Images
The Russian leader knocked his US counterpart, Barack Obama off the top spot. The US president held the title last year.
Obama has been on the top of the list for every year with the exception of 2010, when Hu Jintao, the former political and military leader of China, was number one.
The annual World’s Most Powerful list is made up of heads of state, financiers, philanthropists and entrepreneurs and the list represents the collective wisdom of top Forbes editors, who consider hundreds of nominees before ranking the planet’s top 72 power-brokers.
Newcomers
There are thirteen newcomers which include, Pope Francis (No. 4), Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-Hee (No. 41), Volkswagen’s Martin Winterkorn (No. 49) and the South Korean President Park Geun-hye (No. 52), to name but a few.
There are just nine women on the list, but that is an improvement on both 2011 and 2012 which featured six women leaders and the inaugural list from 2009 included only 3. Two of the world’s most important NGO’s run by women feature on the list - Christine Lagarde (No. 35) who leads the IMF and Margaret Chan (No. 59) who steers the World Health Organisation.
Here are the top ten. To view the full list click here.
#2. Barack Obama, President of the United States
Charles Dharapak/AP/Press Association Images
#3. XI Jinping, General Secretary Communist Party of China
AP Photo
#4. Pope Francis, Roman Catholic Church
Source: Vatican/YouTube
#5. Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany
Yves Logghe/AP/Press Association Image
#6. Bill Gates, Cofounder Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
PBG/PBG/Empics Entertainment
#7. Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the US Federal Reserve
Alex Brandon/AP/Press Association Images
#8. King Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the King of Saudi Arabia
Carolyn Kaster/AP/Press Association Images
#9. Mario Draghi President of the European Central Bank
Steven Senne/AP/Press Association Images
#10. Michael Duke CEO Wal-Mart
April L. Brown/AP/Press Association Images
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No 1,200,001,676 enda kenny
how did he get that high ; was it the passing of those two Fianna Fail T.D.S during the week or what ?
The title was delivered to Putin while he was riding bareback on a horse with no top on.
Or while he personally dangled the Forbes editor by the ankles off the top of a skyscraper? ;-)
With a wolf wrapped round his shoulders
Shouting homophobic profanities
Yes Larry, as he was watching chuck Norris movies
Chuck Norris watches him!
Really like bill gates! Seems to want to make the world a better place and puts that into action!
He was a major fully-paid bondholder who now vaccinates children in Pakistan from whence come anecdotal reports that girls who receive the inoculation have a problem conceiving ;
I really don’t like him ………….. oh and didn’t he do a little bit of “I’ll take Steve Jobs magic while I’m at it” kinda thing ?
Hello Bill …. or your minions ; whichever !
Barrack has my drone co-ordinates ; I’ll be here all week ; there’s a recession on here Bill and in your home country as well !
He wants to cull a good few of us out of the world population, thinks the world can’t support us all. Me, I’m inclined to go with Gandhi ” there is more than enough for men’s need, but not nearly enough for men’s greed”
Excellent quote from Gandhi ; who was a big fan of our own Michael Davitt.
And he thought a lot of Jesus, but he thought it was a pity that Christians were so unChristlike.
When Ghandi was asked what he thought of Western civilisation he replied that he thought it would be a good idea :-)
Sure didn’t Putin ride the Meteor into Russia? :P
Not quite ; Putin actually pulled that meteor in from Alpha Centauri with his mind…..
Vladamir for Taoiseach !
Wrong !
ENDA IS !
Angela giving the obligatory fist pump in light of the news
This is utter BS – the most powerful people in the world are the big bankers eg Rothschild’s- –
- As for gates – he still found time to come back and get his unsecured 427 million from Anglo – a control freak .
Your completely wrong Jim. It’s a hybrid race of lizard jews. They’ve been running the world since the Renaissance. Bill Gates is one of them, he’s really 756 years old.
I 2nd that !
I pity the guy who has to tell Chuck Norris he’s not on the list
Is that the only photograph the journal could find of Pope Francis?
Oh dear, Enda will be so disappointed, didn’t make the top ten, ah well, cheer up Enda, you probably made the bottom ten.
The most powerful man in the world is a communist, how things never change.
Putin is a communist in your imagination only.
Putin was in East Germany when the Berlin wall came down, it was very interesting what he did as the highest ranking member of the KGB in Dresden.
Evelyn De Rothschild
No Barosso, no Kenny, nobody in the US congress, no Erdoğan, no African political leader, no Latin American, no SE Asian.
You starting a new list?
:-)
What about the head of the Illuminati? Doesn’t she run the world?
She and her reign will be cast aside when the great plan has ripened, the new throne of power will exist where the continents meet under the new nation of the twelve tribes.
Be weary of powerful people…
Or perhaps u mean ‘wary’ ?
Or perhaps u mean “you”?
“Or perhaps u mean “you”?”
You might want to have a second look at that comment there steve..
Ah u no wot I ment
I’m not surprised.
Seriously, could you have picked more awkward photos????
have your say