Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women | 08/24/2009 9:40 am

Michelle Obama, Oprah, Queen Elizabeth Make Forbes Top 100 Most Powerful Women List

Forbes scoured the globe for women with the most influence in business, government, entertainment and the community.

By The Staff at wowOwow.com

Forbes is definitely paying attention when it comes to scoping out the world’s most powerful women and highlighting their contributions to their profession and society.

This year, the Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women List features many top women business executives — with PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi in the U.S. as No. 3; DuPont CEO Ellen Kullman in the U.S. as No. 7; and America’s Carol Bartz, Yahoo CEO, as No. 12 — but women presidents or other government officials, community leaders and other movers and shakers also made the list.

What’s it take to get on the list? Influence.

"Forbes’ Power Women list isn’t about celebrity or popularity; it’s about influence. Queen Rania of Jordan (No. 76), for instance, is perhaps the most listened-to woman in the Middle East; her Twitter feed has 600,000 followers," says Forbes.com. "In assembling the list, Forbes looked for women who run countries, big companies or influential nonprofits."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was ranked the world’s most powerful woman, while American FDIC Chief Sheila Bair is No. 2 and Argentina President Cristina Fernandez ranked No. 11. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ranked No. 36, First Lady Michelle Obama took 40th place, followed by talk-show queen Oprah Winfrey right behind her, and Queen Elizabeth II as No. 42. Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Sonia Sotomayor also made the list.

Click here to see Forbes’s Top 100 list, complete with descriptions of why each woman was chosen. Congratulations to all those who made the list! Your accomplishments and the resulting headway made for women are immeasurable.

37 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

This is going to start a "well, why wasn’t [she who should have been named] on the list. It will get longer than 10. I am very happy about Michelle Obama but also her mom. Ellen Kullman hasn’t had her current position very long but she broke the glass ceiling for many woman.

By Kay Holmes on 08/24/2009 9:55 am

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All remarkable women!

By DeBúrca obj on 08/24/2009 10:02 am

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I agree DeB ;)

By S G on 08/25/2009 7:43 am

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I always find the Brits comments interesting:

"But the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, trails Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the house of representatives, at number 36. Clinton, who days ago put a Congolese student in his place for asking what her husband Bill Clinton thought about a foreign policy issue, might have expected to be placed higher. In 2005, then secretary of state Condoleeza Rice was rated the world’s number one most powerful woman. US commentators have been raising questions over how much influence and power Clinton wields over international issues in the US administration. Forbes disagreed that Clinton’s ranking was low.

"She is an extremely important woman in the government, but she’s not the president. She did run as candidate and didn’t win. If she had, she would have been considered with Merkel for number one," said Chana Schoenberger, the Forbes associate editor who co-edited the list. "She has been on our list for a long time as very powerful senator before becoming secretary of state. Yes, she’s the spokesperson of the administration on foreign policy issues and does important things, but here she’s competing with a whole group of women who are running things. A lot of the women are running their own countries."

Michele Obama, who ranks just above Oprah Winfrey at 41, is part of a tradition of featuring US first ladies. Schoenberger said of Obama: "She’s not elected but she is the public face of the country and deals with domestic policy in terms of influencing what the president thinks. She’s very much in the public eye."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/aug/19/angela-merkel-michelle-obama-forbes

By deber B on 08/24/2009 10:09 am

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Wow, talk about an impressive list of women. We should all be proud.

By Belinda Joy on 08/24/2009 10:13 am

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Sometimes I find myself bemoaning the continued existence of the glass ceiling, the pay inequities, the limits put on women - and then along comes something that makes me realize that there are many, many women who have made a huge impact on the lives of millions of people. Some achieved this through birth alone (being born into the position of inheriting a throne!); some achieved it against all the odds against them; some achieved it by dint of sheer genius and applied productivity. At any rate, seeing this eclectic and diverse list of remarkable women made my day brighter. And seeing the number of women from the US on that list makes me very proud.

By Susan Crawford on 08/24/2009 11:37 am

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Well said Susan!

By DeBúrca obj on 08/24/2009 1:19 pm

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Nicely put, Susan. Whether from the US or not, I love that women all over the world are in positions of power. Perhaps all that power can find its way into the Middle East and kick some sand about.

By phyllis Doyle Pepe on 08/25/2009 5:02 pm

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Absolutely! And when I think that not so long ago the idea of creating a list like this would have been deemed ridiculous, I realize that we HAVE made tremendous progress. There is more work to be done, but once women get moving, it’s hard to stop us, eh?

By Susan Crawford on 08/25/2009 5:39 pm

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Michelle deserved to be included in that list she is a very smart lady.

By caj p on 08/24/2009 1:47 pm

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Michelle is popular..but I’m not sure she is that influential just yet!

By S.J. Morgan on 08/24/2009 2:45 pm

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Maybe not in your circles, but in some, she is very influential.

By phyllis Doyle Pepe on 08/25/2009 5:04 pm

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ALL 100 women on the list are very deserving. Quite an eclectic group.

By Dee T on 08/24/2009 2:45 pm

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All of these women have incredible drive and stamina and focus. Each should be applauded for her accomplishments. Many had to overcome mammoth obstacles simply because they were women. So many others could and should be added to this list. It should not have anything to do with American politics. It’s so much bigger than that.

By Maggie W on 08/24/2009 4:45 pm

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I agree with you all the way Maggie, if people would just say "wow look at the amazing things these women around the world are doing." This should have nothing to do with politics and everything to do with these ladies accomplishments. These are all amazing women that have worked hard to get where they are. Regardless of your political beliefs as women we should be able to look at these women in a positive way for getting ahead in a male dominated world.

By Wendy R on 08/24/2009 5:11 pm