According to this year’s Forbes list German Chancellor Angela Merkel is the most powerful women in the world. Merkel topped the Forbes list beating US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff is now the third most powerful woman in the world.
Last year’s topper US First Lady Michelle Obama slips to No 8 position in the current list. CEO of PepsiCo US Indra Nooyi and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg completed the top five slots. Queen Elizabeth, who ranked No 49, was the oldest at 85.
This year’s Forbes list consists of eight heads of state and 29 CEOs. They have an average age of 54 and collectively control $30 trillion. Twenty two are single.
In a statement Moira Forbes, president & publisher of ForbesWoman said,”Our list reflects the diverse and dynamic paths to power for women today, whether leading a nation or setting the agenda on critical issues of our time.” “Across their multiple spheres of influence, these women have achieved power through connectivity, the ability to build a community around the organizations they oversee, the countries they lead, the causes they champion and their personal brands,” she added.
Forbes cited Merkel as the head of the one real global economy in Europe. Clinton was credited for deftly dealing with Middle East revolutions and WikiLeaks revelations in her second year on the job, while Rousseff made history as the first woman to lead Latin America’s largest economic power.
