For the fourth consecutive year, Forbes ranked Russian President Vladimir Putin as the world’s most powerful person.Forbes, the American business magazine, published its list of World’s Most Powerful People 2016 on December 14.According to the magazine, the Russia’s leader continues to get what he wants, no matter whether it was about his motherland or Syria, or the US presidential elections.The Forbes list identifies 74 people – one for every 100 million on the planet – whose actions have the most impact across the world.To compile the list, Forbes considered hundreds of candidates from various walks of life all around the globe, and measured their power along four dimensions.
US President-elect Donald Trump, has moved up from 72nd to number two on the list while the outgoing president, Barack Obama, who has just over a month left in the White House, has already plummeted to 48th place on the list.“The third most powerful person in the world also happens to be the most powerful woman: Angela Merkel, the chancellor of Germany and the backbone of the European Union,” Forbes says in a statement.Chinese President Xi Jinping has been named as the fourth powerful person of this year while Pope Francis, the spiritual leader of more than a billion Catholics, ranked five.There are 11 new names on the list this year, including Theresa May, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (#13); Travis Kalanick, CEO of Uber (#64); Bob Iger, CEO of The Walt Disney Company (#67); Mike Pence, Vice President-Elect of the United States (#69); Rodrigo Duterte, President of the Philippines (#70); and Sheldon Adelson, CEO of Las Vegas Sands (#72).Two former members also return to the list this year: Antonio Guterres, incoming Secretary General of the United Nations (#36, last appearance in 2009); and Recep Erdogan, President of Turkey (#56, last appearance in 2011).This year, 28 members of the list serve as chief executives of major companies. The top ten of those CEOs – all of whom are American – run firms with a combined market capitalisation of $3tn (£2.4tn), Forbes reports.To compile the list, the editorial panel of the magazine considered hundreds of candidates from various walks of life all around the globe, and measured their power along four dimensions—power over lots of people, the financial resources, powerful in multiple spheres, and active use of power.“This year’s list comes at a time of rapid and profound change, and represents our best guess about who will matter in the year to come,” added Forbes.
source:UNB
