Queen Of England Is 20th Most Powerful Woman In The World As Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Sits On 81st Position – Forbes

At 86, the Queen is the oldest in Forbes magazine’s list of 100.

Having played a starring role in her own Diamond Jubilee celebration and taken a turn as a Bond Girl in the space of a few months, the Queen’s profile has perhaps never been higher.

Yesterday she entrenched her position on the international stage by being named the 26th most powerful woman in the world.

Yaay! I’m No. 20 – Duchess of Cambridge and Queen of England

The Jubilee celebrations helped her jump 23 places from last year, along with events such as her visit to Northern Ireland – which saw her shake hands with former IRA commander Martin McGuinness.

At 86, the Queen is the oldest woman on a list that represents leading figures in politics, technology, entertainment and philanthropy. There is no sign of the Duchess of Cambridge, who graced magazine covers across the world after her wedding to Prince William.

Instead, Kate, 29, is tipped by the magazine as a woman to watch over the coming year as she embarks on her charity work.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel holds the top spot as the world’s most powerful woman, commended for her leadership in the eurozone crisis

For the second year running, German Chancellor Angela Merkel tops the list, cited as the ‘lead player in the eurozone economic crisis’ and praised for embracing social media by answering citizens’ questions on YouTube.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff hold their second and third places respectively.

U.S Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is second on the list for the second year running
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff retains third place

Clinton is planning to bow out of public life after the upcoming American elections in November, despite praise for her handling of the WikiLeaks diplomatic cables crisis, while Rousseff is enjoying approval rates of 77 per cent among Brazilians ahead of running for another term in 2014.

The women on the list were ranked according to influence, the amount of money they control or earn, and media presence.
Sonia Gandhi, president of the Indian National Congress, rises one place to number six in the list since last year, while U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama moves up from eight to seventh.

The list featured newcomers such as actress and performer Jennifer Lopez and the widow of Apple founder Steve Jobs, Laurene Powell Jobs, a billionaire philanthropist.

Burmese pro-democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi rises from 26 to 19 in the 2012 Forbes rankings.

Leading figures from the media include Oprah Winfrey at 11, Diane Sawyer at 23, and British-born U.S. Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour at 51.
Celebrities such as singers Lady Gaga (ranked 14) and Shakira (number 40) are lauded for their charity work.

Notable exclusions from this year’s list include Republican politicians Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachmann after failed bids for the White House. In 2011 they were ranked 22 and 34 respectively.

Former World Bank Vice-President and Nigeria’s Minister of Finance Sits Comfortably On The 81st Spot

Forbes said: ‘So many of these women are in policy or political roles, and their influence … is only growing so it’s not surprising that someone like Merkel or Clinton would continue to be present on the list year to year.’

FORBES’ FULL LIST OF TOP 100 MOST POWERFUL WOMEN IN THE WORLD

1 Angela Merkel, Chancellor, Germany, 58, Germany, Politics

2 Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State, United States, 64, United States, Politics

3 Dilma Rousseff, President, Brazil, 64, Brazil, Politics

4 Melinda Gates, Co-Chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, 48, United States, Humanitarian

5 Jill Abramson, Executive Editor, New York Times Co., 58, United States, Media

6 Sonia Gandhi, President, National Congress Party, India, 65, India, Politics

7 Michelle Obama, First Lady, United States, 48, United States, Politics

8 Christine Lagarde, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund, 56, France, Humanitarian

9 Janet Napolitano, Secretary, US Department of Homeland Security, 54, United States, Politics

10 Sheryl Sandberg, COO, Facebook, 42, United States, Technology

 

11 Oprah Winfrey, Entrepreneur and Personality, 58, United States, Celebrity

12 Indra Nooyi, Chairman and CEO, PepsiCo, 56, United States, Business

13 Irene Rosenfeld, Chairman and CEO, Kraft Foods, 59, United States, Business

14 Lady Gaga, Musician and Philanthropist, 26, United States, Celebrity

15 Virginia Rometty, President and CEO, IBM, 54, United States, Technology

16 Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, President of Argentina, 59, Argentina, Politics

17 Ursula Burns, Chairman and CEO, Xerox 53 United States Technology

18 Meg Whitman, CEO, Hewlett-Packard, 56, United States, Technology

19 Aung San Suu Kyi, Chair and Parliamentarian, National League for Democracy, Burma, 67, Burma, Politics

20 Maria das Graças Silva Foster, CEO, Petrobras-Petróleo Brasil, 58, Brazil, Business

 

21 Marissa Mayer, CEO, Yahoo, 37, United States, Technology

22 Anne Sweeney, Co-Chair, Disney Media Networks and President, Disney/ABC Television Group, Walt Disney, 54, United States, Media

23 Diane Sawyer, Anchor of World News, ABC, Walt Disney, 66, United States, Media

24 Angela Braly, CEO, WellPoint, 51, United States, Business

25 Susan Wojcicki, Senior Vice President, Google, 44, United States, Technology

26 Queen Elizabeth II, Monarch, United Kingdom, 86, United Kingdom, Politics

27 Julia Gillard, Prime Minister, Australia, 50, Australia, Politics

28 Nancy Pelosi, Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, United States, 72, United States, Politics

29 Arianna Huffington, Editor-In-Chief, Huffington Post Media Group, AOL, 62, United States, Media

30 Yingluck Shinawatra, Prime Minister, Thailand, 45, Thailand, Politics

 

31 Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary, US Department of Health and Human Service, 64, United States, Politics

32 Beyonce Knowles, Actress, Entrepreneur and Musician, 30, United States, Celebrity

33 Diane Von Furstenberg, Owner and Fashion Designer, Diane von Furstenberg Studio, L.P., 65, United States, Business

34 Helen Clark, Administrator, U.N. Development Programme, 62, New Zealand, Humanitarian

35 Georgina Rinehart, Executive Chairman, Hancock Prospecting, 58, Australia, Billionaire

36 Amy Pascal, Co-Chairman, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Sony, 54, United States, Media

37 Margaret Chan, Director-General, World Health Organization, 65, China, Humanitarian

38 Jennifer Lopez, Actress, Musician and Philanthropist, 43, United States, Celebrity

39 Sheri McCoy, CEO, Avon Products, 53, United States, Business

40 Shakira, Musician and Philanthropist, 35, Colombia, Celebrity

 

41 Mary Barra, Senior Vice President, Global Product Development, General Motors, 50, United States, Business

42 Zhang Xin & family, Co-founder and CEO, Soho China Ltd., 46, China, Business

43 Alice Walton, Chairman, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, 62, United States, Billionaire

44 Laura Lang, CEO, Time Inc., Time Warner, 56, United States, Media

45 Angela Ahrendts, CEO, Burberry Group, 52, United States, Business

46 Sue Naegle, President, HBO Entertainment, Time Warner Cable, 43, United States, Media

47 Ellen DeGeneres, Comedian, Personality and Philanthropist, 54, United States, Celebrity

48 Safra Catz, President, CFO, Oracle, 50, United States, Technology

49 Laurene Powell Jobs & family, Founder and Chair, Emerson Collective, 48, United States, Billionaire

50 Rosalind Brewer, President and CEO, Sam’s Club, Wal-Mart Stores, 49, United States, Business

 

51 Anna Wintour, Editor-in-Chief, Vogue, Conde Nast Publications, Inc., 62, United States, Media

52 Helene Gayle, President, CEO, CARE, 57, United States, Humanitarian

53 Christiane Amanpour, Chief International Correspondent, CNN, Time Warner, 54, United States, Media

54 Rosalia Mera, Investor and Philanthropist, 68, Spain, Billionaire

55 Cynthia Carroll, CEO, Anglo American, 55, United States, Business

56 Cher Wang, Co-founder and Chair, HTC, 53, Taiwan, Technology

57 Abigail Johnson, President, Fidelity Personal, Workplace and Institutional Services, Fidelity Investments, 50, United States, Business

58 Padmasree Warrior, Chief Technology and Strategy Officer, Cisco Systems, 51, India, Technology

59 Chanda Kochhar, Managing Director and CEO, ICICI Bank, 50, India, Business

60 Gail Kelly, CEO, Westpac Banking Group, 56, Australia, Business

 

61 Margaret Hamburg, Commissioner, US Food and Drug Administration, 57, United States, Politics

62 Ellen Kullman, Chairman and CEO, EI du Pont de Nemours, 56, United States, Business

63 Drew Gilpin, Faust President, Harvard University, 64, United States, Humanitarian

64 Shari Arison, Investor and Philanthropist, 54, Israel, Billionaire

65 Mary Schapiro, Chair, US Securities and Exchange Commission, 57, United States, Politics

66 Angelina Jolie, Actress and Philanthropist, 37, United States, Celebrity

67 Miuccia Prada, Owner and Fashion Designer, Prada, 63, Italy, Business

68 Carol Meyrowitz, CEO, TJX Cos, 58, United States, Business

69 Ertharin Cousin, Executive Director, World Food Programme, United Nations, 55, United States, Humanitarian

70 Sue Gardner, Executive Director, WikiMedia Foundation, 45, Canada, Technology

 

71 Joyce Banda, President, Malawi, 62, Malawi, Politics

72 Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Managing Director, World Bank, 49, Indonesia, Humanitarian

73 Bonnie Hammer, Chairman, Cable Entertainment and Cable Studios, NBCUniversal, Comcast, 62, United States, Media

74 Koong Chua Sock, Koong Group CEO, SingTel, 53, Singapore, Technology

75 Sofia Vergara, Actress and Entrepreneur, 40, Colombia, Celebrity

76 Ho Ching, CEO, Temasek, 59, Singapore, Business

77 Tina Brown, Editor-in-Chief, The Daily Beast and Newsweek, IAC/InterActiveCorp., 58, United States, Media

78 J.K. Rowling, Author, 47, United Kingdom, Celebrity

79 Chan Laiwa & family, Philanthropist, 71, China, Billionaire

80 Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Founder, Chair, Biocon Ltd., 59, India, Technology

 

81 Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Minister of Finance, Nigeria, 58, Nigeria, Politics

82 Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President, Liberia, 73, Liberia, Politics

83 Gisele Bundchen, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist and Supermodel, 32, Brazil, Celebrity

84 Mary Meeker, Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, 51, United States, Technology

85 Shaikha Al-Bahar, CEO-Kuwait, National Bank of Kuwait, Business

86 Marjorie Scardino, CEO, Pearson, 65, United States, Media

87 Solina Chau, Director, Li Ka Shing Foundation, 50, Hong Kong, Humanitarian

88 Jan Fields, President, McDonald’s USA, McDonald’s, 57, United States, Business

89 Weili Dai, Co-founder, Marvell Technology Group, 50, United States, Technology

90 Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, President, CEO, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 57, United States, Humanitarian

 

91 Sun Yafang, Chair, Huawei Technologies, 56, China, Technology

92 Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, Minister of Foreign Trade, United Arab Emirates, 53, United Arab Emirates, Politics

93 Guler Sabanci, Chairman and Managing Director, Sabanci Holding, 57, Turkey, Business

94 Greta Van Susteren, Anchor, FOX News, News Corp, 58, United States, Media

95 Mary Callahan Erdoes, CEO, J.P. Morgan Asset Management, JPMorgan Chase, 45, United States, Business

96 Mindy Grossman, CEO, HSN, 54, United States, Media

97 Patricia Woertz, Chairman, CEO and President, Archer Daniels Midland, 59, United States, Business

98 Judith Rodin, President, Rockefeller Foundation, 67, United States, Humanitarian

99 Beth Brooke, Global Vice Chair – Public Policy, Ernst & Young, 53, United States, Business

100 Sheikha Mayassa Al Thani, Chair, Qatar Museums Authority, Qatar, 29, Qatar, Humanitarian