US Forbes magazine recently ranked the globe’s most powerful people. In the world’s top 10 most influential people of 2012, there were them usual suspects such as the American president and German’s version of “the Iron Lady”, Lady Chancellor Angela Merkel.
1. Barack Obama
The US Commander-in-Chief is still riding high. He and Hu Jintao have been exchanging the lead this past couple of years and time will tell if they continue the streak.
2. Hu Jintao
Second on the list is Hu Jintao, the president of the world’s most populous nation. Forbes describes him as the person who can cause greatest changes without “pesky bureaucrats, advisors or courts” in contrast to his Western equivalents.
3. Vladimir Putin
After successfully making it back into the seat of power in Russia, Putin remains in the list of the world’s most powerful figures. His country has vast energy reserves and is a military superpower.
4. Angela Merkel
The German Chancellor has been at the forefront of the fight for European economic recovery. She is the highest ranked woman in this list. Germany is also the Europe’s biggest economy.
5. Bill Gates
Bill Gates has made a surprise rise in rankings. This could be due to his immense charity work in the recent years.
6. Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz
The Saudi Prince maintains his position in the list of top 10 most influential people of 2012 perhaps due to steady rise in oil prices. He oversees the world’s greatest oil fields thus exerting huge power wherever he goes.
7. Pope Benedict XVI
While the top of the list is filled with political figures, the leader of the Roman Catholic church makes the list die to his stance on moral and religious issues affecting 1.1 billion church members.
8. Ben Bernanke
US Federal Reserve’s chairman wields great influence during these harsh economic times. The growing account of the Reserve makes him even more powerful.
9. Mark Zuckerberg
The Facebook founder literally makes the world go round. With the recent IPO of his social networking site, he might go further up the ladder.
10. David Cameron
Britain’s PM has faced harsh criticism locally for his austerity measures but it seems his efforts are being recognized elsewhere.
