Forbes 100 most powerful women list 2020 has been published with 17 newcomers including US Vice-President-Elect Kamala Harris at 3rd position.
Like the previous 9 years in a row, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has secured the top spot this time as well.
Out of the 100 most powerful women, the top 10 in the descending order are 1. Angela Merkel 2. Christine Lagarde 3. Kamala Harris 4. Ursula Von Der Leyen 5. Melinda Gates 6. Mary Barra 7. Nancy Pelosi 8. Ana Patricia Botín 9. Abigail Johnson 10. Gail Boudreaux
This year’s most powerful women list is the 17th annual one published by the USA magazine.
The women on this year’s list hail from 30 countries and were born across four generations.
To note, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been ranked at 39th this year, ahead of the UK Queen Elizabeth II who is at 46th.
Last year, Sheikh Hasina was ranked the 29th most powerful woman by the Forbes.
A Brief Profile of the Top 10 Most Powerful Women :
Angela Merkel (66) : Merkel is a German politician who has been Chancellor of Germany since 2005.
Christine Lagarde (64) : She (a French) is the President of the European Central Bank Since November 2019.
Kamala Harris (56) : She is an American politician who is set to become the first women Vice-President of the USA. Kamala is also becoming the first Vice-President of color of the country.
Ursula Von Der Leyen (62) : Ursula is a German politician and the President of the European Commission since December 2019.
Melinda Ann Gates (56) : Melinda Gates is an American philanthropist. She co-founded the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation with husband Bill Gates in 2000.
Mary Teresa Barra (58) : She is an American businesswoman who has been the Chairman and CEO of General Motors Company since January 2014. She is the first female CEO of a major automaker.
Nancy Patricia Pelosi (80) : She is an American politician serving as the Speaker of the United States House of Representative since 2019.
Ana Patricia Botín (60) : She is a Spanish banker who has served as the Executive Chairman of the Santerder Group since 2014. Ana is the fourth generation of the Botín family to hold this role.
Abigail Johnson (58) : She is an American billionaire businesswoman. Since 2014, Johnson has been the President and CEO of American investment firm Fidelity Investments.
Gail Koziara Boudreaux (60) : She is an American businesswoman and athlete. Gail is also the President and CEO of Anthem Inc.
According to Forbes, Kamala Harris is one of 16 other newcomers on the 2020 list.
Here are all the 17 newcomers on the 2020 list :
Kamala Harris (No. 3, U.S. vice president-elect); Carol Tomé (No. 11, CEO of UPS); Martina Merz (No. 19, CEO of Thyssenkrupp); Nicke Widyawati (No. 25, CEO of Pertamina); Amanda Blanc (No. 26, CEO of Aviva); Shemara Wikramanayake (No. 29, CEO & Managing Director of Macquarie Group); Joey Wat (No. 34, CEO of Yum China Holdings); Karen Lynch (No. 38, CEO of CVS Health); Simonetta Sommaruga (No. 56, President of the Swiss Confederation); Kelly Zhang (No. 62, CEO of ByteDance China); Yuriko Koike (No. 63, Governor of Tokyo); MacKenzie Scott (No. 67, Philanthropist); Sanna Marin (No. 85, Prime Minister of Finland); Linda Rendle (No. 87, CEO of The Clorox Company); Tory Burch (No. 88, Executive Chairman & Chief Creative Officer of Tory Burch, LLC); Mellody Hobson (No. 94, Co-CEO of Ariel Investments and Stacey Abrams (No. 100, Founder of Fair Fight).
This year’s powerful women span industries from politics to media and entertainment to the business world.
Eight newcomers are based in the USA but a strong showing is also from Asia and Europe.
