Forbes World’s Most Powerful People

UPSC Prelims 2025 Notes

Since 2009, Forbes has compiled an annual list of the world’s most powerful people.

The list has one slot for every 100 million people on Earth, meaning in 2016 there were 74 people on the list.

Slots are allocated based on the amount of human and financial resources that they have sway over, as well as their influence on world events.

Forbes List World’s Most Powerful People in 2016

Rank Name Organization Age
1 Vladimir Putin Russia 64
2 Donald Trump United States 70
3 Angela Merkel Germany 62
4 Xi Jinping China 63
5 Pope Francis Roman Catholic Church 79
6 Janet Yellen United States 70
7 Bill Gates Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation 61
8 Larry Page Alphabet 43
9 Narendra Modi India 66
10 Mark Zuckerberg Facebook 32
11 Mario Draghi European Central Bank 69
12 Li Keqiang China 61
13 Theresa May United Kingdom 51
14 Jeff Bezos Amazon.com 52
15 Warren Buffett Berkshire Hathaway 86
16 Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud Saudi Arabia 80
17 Carlos Slim Helu América Móvil 76
18 Ali Hoseini-Khamenei Iran 77
19 Jamie Dimon JPMorgan Chase 60
20 Benjamin Netanyahu Israel 67
21 Elon Musk Space Exploration Technologies Corp. 45
22 Jeffrey Immelt General Electric 60
23 Francois Hollande France 62
24 Rex Tillerson ExxonMobil 64
25 Christine Lagarde International Monetary Fund 60
26 Lloyd Blankfein Goldman Sachs Group 62
27 Doug McMillon Wal-Mart Stores 50
28 Jack Ma Alibaba Group 52
29 Akio Toyoda Toyota Motor 60
30 Sergey Brin Alphabet 43
31 Charles Koch Koch Industries 81
32 Tim Cook Apple 56
33 Li Ka-shing CK Hutchison Holdings 88
34 Larry Fink BlackRock 64
35 Rupert Murdoch News Corp 85
36 Antonio Guterres United Nations 67
37 Shinzo Abe Japan 62
38 Mukesh Ambani Reliance Industries 59
39 Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan United Arab Emirates 68
40 Jay Y. Lee Samsung Electronics 48
41 Ding Xuedong China 56
42 Jim Yong Kim World Bank 57
43 Kim Jong-un North Korea 33
44 Abdel el-Sisi Egypt 62
45 Ma Huateng Tencent Holdings 45
46 Michael Dell Dell 51
47 Haruhiko Kuroda Japan 72
48 Barack Obama United States 55
49 Khalid Al-Falih Saudi Arabia 56
50 John Roberts United States 61

 

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