News

Obama heads Forbes' list of world's most powerful people

November 13, 2009 Edition 2

SINGAPORE: US President Barack Obama can add another accolade to his long list of awards after being named the world's most powerful person in an inaugural ranking by Forbes magazine.

Obama, whose popularity at home and abroad has been found by numerous surveys to have boosted the image of the United States, has topped the list, which also features al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and TV talkshow host Oprah Winfrey as people wielding some influence over the world.

Forbes said it had narrowed its inaugural list to 67 people, "a number based on the conceit that one can reduce the world's 6.7 billion people to the one in every 100 million who matter".

"The goal is to expose power and not glorify it, and over time reveal how influence is as easily lost as it is hard to gain."

World and industry leaders dominated the top 10 of the list, which Forbes said was assessed on the number of people the person influenced, their ability to project power beyond their immediate sphere of influence, their control of financial resources and how actively that person wielded power.

Also on the list were Pope Benedict (11), Goldman Sachs chief executive Lloyd Blankfein (18) and billionaire investor and philanthropist Warren Buffett (14).

Bin Laden came in at No 37, Winfrey at No 45, and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown at No 29. Queen Elizabeth failed to make the list.

The top 10 list is as follows:

1. Obama.

2. Hu Jintao, president of the People's Republic of China.

3. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

4. US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

5. Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page.

6. Carlos Slim, chief executive of Mexico's Telmex.

7. Rupert Murdoch, chairman of News Corporation.

8. Michael T Duke, chief executive of Wal-Mart Stores.

9. Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz.

10. Bill Gates, co-chairman of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. - Reuters