For the third year in a row, Russian President Vladimir Putin has been named the world’s most powerful person by Forbes magazine. German Chancellor Angela Merkel grabbed the runner-up spot, pushing U.S. President Barack Obama to an all-time low third.
Forbes described Putin as “one of the few men in the world powerful enough to do what he wants and get away with it.”
Factors determining the order include each candidate’s power over others, the financial resources they control, whether the candidate is powerful in multiple spheres, and if the candidate actively used their power.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is the youngest on the list at 31 years old and Donald Trump was thrown in for good measure two spots from the bottom. Hillary Clinton made her first appearance on the list (58th) since 2011.
Newly minted Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was granted the 69th spot, an impressive feat given considerations were made before he was elected. (lol, 69.)
Stephen Harper, meanwhile, had been a perennial member of Forbes’ short list, hovering just outside the perimeter of the top 100’s aura of influence.
The top 10 below:
1. Vladimir Putin – Russian president
2. Angela Merkel – German chancellor
3. Barack Obama – U.S. president
4. Pope Francis
5. Xi Jinping – Chinese president
6. Bill Gates – co-founder of Microsoft, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
7. Janet Yellen – Federal Reserve chair
8. David Cameron – U.K. prime minister
9. Narendra Modi – Indian prime minister
10. Larry Page – Alphabet CEO
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