On this year’s FORBES list of the world’s 100 most powerful women, the top three most powerful are politicians: Germany’s Angela Merkel, U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.
Counting the entire list, there are 11 heads of state as well as one 90-year-old monarch, two first ladies and two top-seed diplomats. And that’s good news for every one of the 7.4 billion people on the planet. “In societies where men are truly confident of their own worth, women are not merely tolerated but valued,” Aung San Suu Kyi , winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and newly elected defacto leader of Myanmar (No. 26 on the list) once famously said. More than ever, women are leading (or running for office) in many of the world’s largest nations.
Ranked the No. 1 most powerful woman and female politician is German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who directly controls the $3.3 trillion GDP of Germany, according to the IMF , and hugely influences the $16.2 trillion economy of the European Union. Germany is the world’s fifth largest economy and the largest led by a woman. In office since 2005, Merkel has topped the World’s Most Powerful Woman ten times, from 2006 to 2009 and again from 2011 to 2016. The chancellor is now leading the charge in Europe to support the refugees fleeing crisis stricken regions across the Middle East, northern Africa and beyond.
A top five Power Women seven times since 2004, this year (like 2015) Hillary Clinton ranks at No. 2. Should she win the presidential race, she’ll be a strong contender for No. 1. If not, she may drop down or fall off the list altogether. Tune in on November 8, 2016.
THE LIST
NO 1.
Angela Merkel
Chancellor, Germany
NO 2
Hillary Clinton
Presidential Candidate, U.S.
NO 3
Janet Yellen
Chair, Federal Reserve, U.S.
NO 4
Park Geun-hye
President, South Korea
NO 5
Michelle Obama
First Lady, U.S.
NO 6
Tsai Ing-wen
President, Taiwan
NO 7
Michelle Bachelet
President, Chile
NO 8
Federica Mogherini
High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Italy
NO 9.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Justice, Supreme Court, U.S.
NO 10
Elena Kagan
Justice, Supreme Court, U.S.
NO 11
Sonia Sotomayor
Justice, Supreme Court, U.S.
NO 12
Aung San Suu Kyi
State Counselor, Myanmar
No 13
Queen Elizabeth II
Monarch, U.K.
No 14
Loretta Lynch
Attorney General, U.S.
No 15
Sheikh Hasina Wajed
One Response
Educative.