The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women in 2018
Forbes has released its list of 100 most powerful women in the World. Topping the list is German President, Angela Merkel and closely followed at number 2 by the British Prime Minister, Theresa May. The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, is retaining the top spot on the list for the 8th year in a row.
Christine Lagarde, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), takes third place on the list, rising from eight last year as a stabilizing force advocating for reducing global trade conflicts.
On the list is Melinda Gates at Number 6, Oprah Winfrey is at number 20, Ivanka Trump is at number 24 while Serena Williams is at number 79 and the Ethiopian President, Sahle-Work Zewde, is at number 97 and is the only African woman that made the list.
The 100 most powerful women in the world for 2018 come from 21 different categories or endeavors with the highest number of them coming from Politics (20 women). According to Forbes “Women now represent close to 20% of presidential, government minister and parliamentary seats worldwide. Clearly, there is still a way to go to reach representation, but this ratio is better than the 5% of CEO seats that are held by women”.
The other categories or endeavors are Media and Entertainment (15 women), Finance and Investments (14 women), Technology (14 women), Diversified (10 women), Services (4 women), Manufacturing (3 women), Healthcare (3 women), Philanthropy and NGO (3 women), Automotive Industry (2 women), Energy (2 women), Economy (1 woman), Enterprise Technology (1 woman), Education (1 woman), Metal and Mining (1 woman), Fashion and Retail (1 woman), Aerospace (1 woman), Logistics (1 woman), Sports (1 woman), Gambling and Casinos (1 woman) and Food and Beverages Category (1 woman).
Serena Williams at number 79 is the only sports woman on the list.
29 countries are represented on the list, including 4 new countries (Netherlands, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Serbia). There are 13 world leaders and one monarch, Queen Elizabeth (No. 26), who is also the oldest woman on the list. 20 percent of the list is comprised of newcomers. There are 13 founders, 26 CEOs (five of which are also founders), five CFOs and three COOs. They wield influence over more than a billion people around the world and control or influence nearly $2 trillion in revenues.
Four metrics are used by Forbes each year to rank the women: money (either net worth, company revenues, assets, or GDP); media presence; spheres of influence; and impact, analyzed both within the context of each woman’s field (media, technology, business, philanthropy/NGOs, politics, and finance) and outside of it. This year, with the help of social insight platform Captiv8, Forbes included social media power in the media presence and influence score.
Of the 29 countries represented on the list, the United States has the highest number of most powerful women in the world in 2018 with a total of 47 women on the list. The US is closely followed by the United Kingdom with 10 women, China has 5 women, Hong Kong 4 women, India 4 women, France 3 women, Germany 2 women, Singapore 2 women, Saudi Arabia 2 women. On the other hand the following countries have one woman each on the list: Spain, Bangladesh, New Zealand, Australia, Taiwan, Netherlands, Vietnam, Croatia, Russia, Lithuania, Turkey, Italy, Estonia, Indonesia, UAE, Chile, South Korea, Serbia, Ethiopia, Switzerland and Norway.
Saudi Arabia, the country where women do not have much space and much role surprisingly has two women on the 2018 list of most powerful women in the world. They are Lubna S. Olayan at no 58 on the list and from the diversified category and Rania Nashar at number 95 from Finance and Investments category.
On a continental basis, North America has the highest number of 47 women but ironically, only one country from this region, the United States, contributed the figure. This could mean that wealth and opportunities distribution in the North American Continent is grossly uneven with the US dominating the other countries.
The European continent, however, seems to have a broader spread of wealth and opportunities for women across the countries as 13 countries from the continent have women making the list of 100 most powerful women in the world for 2018. Asia and the Middle East also showed a better distribution as 11 countries from the continent has women on the list. Africa and South America have one woman each while the Australian and New Zealand Continent have two women, one from Australia and one from New Zealand.
The List of the 100 Most Powerful Women in the World in 2018
| Rank | Name | Age | Country | Category |
| #1 | Angela Merkel | 64 | Germany | Politics |
| #2 | Theresa May | 62 | United Kingdom | Politics |
| #3 | Christine Lagarde | 62 | France | Economy |
| #4 | Mary Barra | 56 | United States | Automotive |
| #5 | Abigail Johnson | 57 | United States | Finance and Investments |
| #6 | Melinda Gates | 54 | United States | Philanthropy/NGO |
| #7 | Susan Wojcicki | 50 | United States | Technology |
| #8 | Ana Patricia Botín | 58 | Spain | Finance and Investments |
| #9 | Marillyn Hewson | 64 | United States | Manufacturing |
| #10 | Ginni Rometty | 61 | United States | Enterprise Technology |
| #11 | Sheryl Sandberg | 49 | United States | Technology |
| #12 | Gail Boudreaux | 58 | United States | Healthcare |
| #13 | Angela Ahrendts | 58 | United States | Technology |
| #14 | Safra Catz | 57 | United States | Technology |
| #15 | Isabelle Kocher | 52 | France | Energy |
| #16 | Adena Friedman | 49 | United States | Finance and Investments |
| #17 | Ho Ching | 65 | Singapore | Diversified |
| #18 | Emma Walmsley | 49 | United Kingdom | Healthcare |
| #19 | U.S. Supreme Court Justices | – | United States | Politics |
| #20 | Oprah Winfrey | 64 | United States | Media & Entertainment |
| #21 | Ruth Porat | 61 | United States | Technology |
| #22 | Laurene Powell Jobs | 55 | United States | Education |
| #23 | Queen Elizabeth II | 92 | United Kingdom | Politics |
| #24 | Ivanka Trump | 37 | United States | Politics |
| #25 | Phebe Novakovic | 60 | United States | Diversified |
| #26 | Sheikh Hasina Wajed | 71 | Bangladesh | Politics |
| #27 | Stacey Cunningham | 44 | United States | Finance and Investments |
| #28 | Amy Hood | 46 | United States | Technology |
| #29 | Jacinda Ardern | 38 | New Zealand | Politics |
| #30 | Gina Rinehart | 64 | Australia | Metals & Mining |
| #31 | Shari Redstone | 64 | United States | Media & Entertainment |
| #32 | Carrie Lam | – | Hong Kong | Politics |
| #33 | Mary Callahan Erdoes | 51 | United States | Finance and Investments |
| #34 | Rosalind Brewer | 55 | United States | Diversified |
| #35 | Erna Solberg | 57 | Norway | Politics |
| #36 | Bonnie Hammer | 68 | United States | Media & Entertainment |
| #37 | Lisa Davis | 55 | United States | Diversified |
| #38 | Marianne Lake | 49 | United Kingdom | Finance and Investments |
| #39 | Mingzhu Dong | 64 | China | Manufacturing |
| #40 | Tsai Ing-wen | 62 | Taiwan | Politics |
| #41 | Donna Langley | 50 | United Kingdom | Media & Entertainment |
| #42 | Anne Finucane | – | United States | Finance and Investments |
| #43 | Gillian Tans | – | Netherlands | Service |
| #44 | Thi Phuong Thao Nguyen | 48 | Vietnam | Diversified |
| #45 | Nicola Sturgeon | 48 | United Kingdom | Politics |
| #46 | Jean Liu | 40 | China | Technology |
| #47 | Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic | 50 | Croatia | Politics |
| #48 | Anna Wintour | 69 | United States | Media & Entertainment |
| #49 | Elvira Nabiullina | 55 | Russia | Finance and Investments |
| #50 | Beyoncé Knowles | 37 | United States | Media & Entertainment |
| #51 | Roshni Nadar Malhotra | 37 | India | Technology |
| #52 | Dana Walden | 54 | United States | Media & Entertainment |
| #53 | Priscilla Chan | 33 | United States | Philanthropy/NGO |
| #54 | Tricia Griffith | 54 | United States | Service |
| #55 | Jennifer Morgan | 47 | United States | Diversified |
| #56 | Feng Ying Wang | – | China | Automotive |
| #57 | Maggie Wei Wu | 50 | China | Fashion & Retail |
| #58 | Lubna S. Olayan | 63 | Saudi Arabia | Diversified |
| #59 | Gwynne Shotwell | 55 | United States | Aerospace |
| #60 | Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw | 65 | India | Healthcare |
| #61 | Melanie Kreis | 47 | Germany | Logistics |
| #62 | Zhou Qunfei | 48 | Hong Kong | Technology |
| #63 | Dalia Grybauskaite | 62 | Lithuania | Politics |
| #64 | Güler Sabanci | 63 | Turkey | Diversified |
| #65 | Peng Liyuan | 56 | China | Politics |
| #66 | Katharine Viner | 46 | United Kingdom | Media & Entertainment |
| #67 | Federica Mogherini | 45 | Italy | Politics |
| #68 | Taylor Swift | 29 | United States | Media & Entertainment |
| #69 | Belinda Johnson | 51 | United States | Technology |
| #70 | Zanny Minton Beddoes | – | United Kingdom | Media & Entertainment |
| #71 | Kathleen Kennedy | – | United States | Media & Entertainment |
| #72 | Lynn Good | – | United States | Energy |
| #73 | Solina Chau | 56 | Hong Kong | Technology |
| #74 | Shonda Rhimes | 48 | United States | Media & Entertainment |
| #75 | Judy Faulkner | 75 | United States | Technology |
| #76 | Kersti Kaljulaid | 48 | Estonia | Politics |
| #77 | Arianna Huffington | 68 | United States | Media & Entertainment |
| #78 | Sri Mulyani Indrawati | 56 | Indonesia | Politics |
| #79 | Serena Williams | 37 | United States | Sports |
| #80 | Meg Whitman | 62 | United States | Technology |
| #81 | Denise Coates | 51 | United Kingdom | Gambling & Casinos |
| #82 | Raja Easa Al Gurg | – | United Arab Emirates | Diversified |
| #83 | Eliza Manningham-Buller | 70 | United Kingdom | Philanthropy/NGO |
| #84 | Wai Ying Lam | – | Hong Kong | Manufacturing |
| #85 | Michelle Bachelet | 67 | Chile | Politics |
| #86 | Lee Boo-jin | 48 | South Korea | Service |
| #87 | Jenny Lee | 46 | Singapore | Finance and Investments |
| #88 | Shobhana Bhartia | 61 | India | Media & Entertainment |
| #89 | Kirsten Green | 47 | United States | Finance and Investments |
| #90 | Geisha Williams | – | United States | Service |
| #91 | Ana Brnabic | 43 | Serbia | Politics |
| #92 | Anne Wojcicki | 45 | United States | Technology |
| #93 | Aileen Lee | 48 | United States | Finance and Investments |
| #94 | Priyanka Chopra | 36 | India | Media & Entertainment |
| #95 | Rania Nashar | – | Saudi Arabia | Finance and Investments |
| #96 | Dominique Senequier | 65 | France | Finance and Investments |
| #97 | Sahle-Work Zewde | – | Ethiopia | Politics |
| #98 | Theresia Gouw | 46 | United States | Finance and Investments |
| #99 | Margarita Louis-Dreyfus | 56 | Switzerland | Food and Beverage |
| #100 | Beth Brooke-Marciniak | 59 | United States | Diversified |
Table from Forbes
– Report by Agwu, C. J.
