German chancellor Angela Merkel has topped Forbes's annual ranking of the most influential female leaders from across the globe for 2019. Coming in second place is Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank, followed by Nancy Pelosi, Ursula von der Leyen, and Mary Barra.
Rounding out the top ten is Melinda Gates, Abigail Johnson, Ana Patricia Botin, Ginni Rometty, Marillyn Hewson (No. 10). The 100 Most Powerful Women list for 2019 highlights the female leaders, entrepreneurs, builders, disruptors, innovators, investors, philanthropists, CEOs who Are wielding their influence to drive change. There were 13 billionaires listed on the 100 Most Powerful Women list for 2019, who have a combined net worth of $86.7 billion.
North America maintained the most women on the list at 50, followed by the Asia Pacific with 21, Europe (inclusive of Russia and Turkey) with 18, the United Kingdom with 5, the Middle East with 3, Latin America with 2, and one in Africa.
Most Powerful Women In The World For 2019
1 Angela Merkel Germany Chancellor of Germany
2 Christine Lagarde France President, European Central Bank
3 Nancy Pelosi United States Speaker, United States House of Representatives
4 Ursula von der Leyen Belgium President, European Commission
5 Mary Barra United States CEO, General Motors
6 Melinda Gates United States Co-Chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
7 Abigail Johnson United States CEO, Fidelity Investments
8 Ana Patricia Botín Spain Executive Chairman, Santander
9 Ginni Rometty United States CEO, IBM
10 Marillyn Hewson United States CEO, Lockheed Martin
11 Gail Boudreaux United States President and CEO, Anthem
12 Susan Wojcicki United States CEO, YouTube
13 Isabelle Kocher France CEO, ENGIE
14 Safra Catz United States CEO, Oracle
15 Kristalina Georgieva Bulgaria Managing Director, International Monetary Fund
16 Julie Sweet United States CEO of Accenture
17 Emma Walmsley United Kingdom CEO, GlaxoSmithKline
18 Sheryl Sandberg United States COO, Facebook
19 Ruth Porat United States Senior Vice President and CFO, Google
20 Oprah Winfrey United States Entrepreneur, Personality, Philanthropist
21 Judith McKenna United Kingdom CEO Walmart
22 Jessica Tan Singapore Co-CEO, Ping An Group
23 Ho Ching Singapore Executive Director and CEO, Temasek
24 Phebe Novakovic United States CEO, General Dynamics
25 Shari Redstone United States Chairwoman, ViacomCBS
26 Amy Hood United States Executive Vice President and CFO, Microsoft
27 Stacey Cunningham United States President, NYSE Group
28 Jessica Uhl Netherlands CFO, Royal Dutch Shell
29 Sheikh Hasina Wajed Bangladesh Prime Minister, Bangladesh
30 Adena Friedman United States President and CEO, NASDAQ
31 Mary Callahan Erdoes United States CEO, J.P. Morgan Asset & Wealth Management, Chase
32 Jane Fraser United Kingdom President, Citigroup
33 Laurene Powell Jobs United States Founder and President, Emerson Collective
34 Nirmala Sitharaman India Finance minister, India
35 Marianne Lake United Kingdom CEO of Consumer Lending, Chase
36 Gina Rinehart Australia Executive Chairman, Hancock Prospecting
37 Kathy Warden United States CEO Northrop Grumman
38 Jacinda Ardern New Zealand Prime Minister, New Zealand
39 Anne Finucane United States Vice Chairman, Bank of America
40 Queen Elizabeth II United Kingdom Monarch, United Kingdom
41 Tsai Ing-wen Taiwan President, Taiwan
42 Ivanka Trump United States Advisor to the U.S. President
43 Rosalind Brewer United States COO, Starbucks
44 Mingzhu Dong China President Gree Electric Appliances
45 Erna Solberg Norway Prime Minister, Norway
46 Dana Walden United States Chairman, Disney Television Studios and ABC Entertainment, Walt Disney
47 Vicki Hollub United States CEO and President, Occidental Petroleum
48 Jennifer Salke United States Amazon Studios chief
49 Jennifer Morgan United States Co-CEO, SAP SE
50 Nicola Sturgeon United Kingdom First Minister of Scotland
51 Donna Langley United Kingdom Chairman, Universal Pictures, Comcast
52 Thi Phuong Thao Nguyen Vietnam Chairman, Sovico Holdings
53 Elvira Nabiullina Russia Governor, Central Bank of Russia
54 Roshni Nadar Malhotra India CEO and Executive Director, HCL Enterprise
55 Gwynne Shotwell United States President and COO, SpaceX
56 Tricia Griffith United States President and CEO, Progressive Insurance Company Ltd.
57 Maggie Wei Wu China CFO Alibaba Group
58 Feng Ying Wang China CEO, Great Wall Motor Company
59 Lynn Good United States CEO, Duke Energy
60 Paula Santilli Mexico CEO, PepsiCo Latin America
61 Rihanna Barbados Musician
62 Melanie Kreis Germany CFO, Deutsche Post
63 Hooi Ling Tan Singapore COO Grab Holdings
64 Bonnie Hammer United States Chairman, NBCUniversal Content Studios
65 Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw India Managing Director, Biocon
66 Beyonce Knowles United States Musician
67 Zhou Qunfei Hong Kong CEO, Lens Technology
68 Sophie Wilmes Belgium Prime Minister of Belgium
69 Jane Jie Sun China CEO, Ctrip
70 Katharine Viner United Kingdom Editor-in-Chief, Guardian News & Media
71 Taylor Swift United States Musician
72 Judy Faulkner United States CEO and Founder, Epic Systems
73 Guler Sabanci Turkey Managing Director, Sabanci Holding
74 Kathleen Kennedy United States President, Lucasfilm
75 Mette Frederiksen Denmark Prime Minister, Denmark
76 Sri Mulyani Indrawati Indonesia Minister of Finance, Indonesia
77 Andrea Marques de Almeida Brazil CFO Petrobras
78 Solina Chau Hong Kong Director, Li Ka Shing Foundation
79 Ava DuVernay United States Filmmaker, producer and director
80 Zuzana Caputova Slovakia President, Slovakia
81 Serena Williams United States Athlete, Tennis
82 Mary Meeker United States General Partner, Bond Capital
83 Lam Wai Ying Hong Kong Chairman, Biel Crystal
84 Raja Easa Al Gurg United Arab Emirates Managing director, Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group
85 Eliza Manningham-Buller United Kingdom Chair, Wellcome Trust
86 Jenny Lee Singapore Managing Partner, GGV Capital
87 Lee Boo-jin South Korea President and CEO, Hotel Shilla
88 Ana Brnabic Serbia Prime Minister, Serbia
89 Meg Whitman United States CEO, Quibi
90 Reese Witherspoon United States Actress
91 Anne Wojcicki United States Cofounder and CEO, 23andMe
92 Aileen Lee United States Founder and General Partner, Cowboy Ventures
93 Sahle-Work Zewde Ethiopia President, Ethiopia
94 Dominique Senequier France Founder and President, Ardian
95 Kirsten Green United States Founder and Managing Partner, Forerunner Ventures
96 Renuka Jagtiani India Chairwoman & CEO Landmark Group
97 Rania Nashar Saudi Arabia CEO, Samba Financial Group
98 Amina Mohammed Nigeria Deputy Secretary-General, United Nations
99 Margarita Louis-Dreyfus Switzerland President, Louis Dreyfus SAS
100 Greta Thunberg Sweden Environmental activist