The World’s 25 most powerful Women 2016

• Posted on October 4, 2016
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

Who are the world’s most powerful women this year? They are the smartest and toughest female business leaders, entrepreneurs, investors, scientists, philanthropists and CEOs making their mark in the world today. They’re women who are building billion-dollar brands, calling the shots in the financial markets, and crisscrossing the globe to broker international agreements and provide aid.

Their accomplishments are formidable on their own, and even more so given how hard it can be to establish inroads into industries and job titles traditionally dominated by men. Statistics on women in positions of power remain bleak. According to the latest survey by Catalyst, a nonprofit that tracks gender parity in the workplace, women occupy a measly 4% of corner offices at S&P 500 companies. And they hold only 25% of executive or senior-level jobs in those same firms.

Amidst sobering numbers like these, one offers new promise. Since 2005, the number of women who are world leaders—presidents or heads of state—had more than doubled by last year, according to the Pew Research Center.

As with every year, four metrics were used: money (either net worth, company revenues, or GDP); media presence; spheres of influence; and impact, analyzed both within the context of each woman’s field (media, technology, business, philanthropy, politics, and finance) and outside of it. Here is the list of the world’s 25 most powerful women of 2016:

Arundhati Bhattacharya

• Chair, State Bank of India, India
• No. 25: World’s Most Powerful Women

Marillyn Hewson

• CEO, Lockheed Martin, U.S.
• No. 24: World’s Most Powerful Women

Sonia Sotomayor

• Justice, Supreme Court, U.S.
• No. 23: World’s Most Powerful Women

Elena Kagan

• Justice, Supreme Court, U.S.
• No. 23: World’s Most Powerful Women

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

• Justice, Supreme Court, U.S.
• No. 23: World’s Most Powerful Women

Helen Clark

• Administrator/U.N. Development Programme, New Zealand
• No. 22: World’s Most Powerful Women

Oprah Winfrey

• Media mogul, U.S.
• No. 21: World’s Most Powerful Women

Safra Catz

• Co-CEO, Oracle, U.S.
• No. 20: World’s Most Powerful Women

Federica Mogherini

• High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Italy
• No. 19: World’s Most Powerful Women

Michelle Bachelet

• President, Chile
• No. 18: World’s Most Powerful Women

Tsai Ing-wen

• President, Taiwan
• No. 17: World’s Most Powerful Women

Abigail Johnson

• CEO, Fidelity, U.S.
• No. 16: World’s Most Powerful Women

Angela Ahrendts

• Senior VP, Apple, U.S.
• No. 15: World’s Most Powerful Women

Indra Nooyi

• CEO, PepsiCo, U.S.
• No. 14: World’s Most Powerful Women

Michelle Obama

• First Lady, U.S.
• No. 13: World’s Most Powerful Women

Park Geun-hye

• President, South Korea
• No. 12: World’s Most Powerful Women

Ginni Rometty

• CEO, IBM, U.S.
• No. 11: World’s Most Powerful Women

Ana Patrica Botin

• Chair, Banco Santander, Spain
• No. 10: World’s Most Powerful Women

Meg Whitman

• CEO, HP, U.S.
• No. 9: World’s Most Powerful Women

Susan Wojcicki

• CEO, YouTube, U.S.
• No. 8: World’s Most Powerful Women

Sheryl Sandberg

• COO, Facebook, U.S.
• No. 7: World’s Most Powerful Women

Christine Lagarde

• Managing director, IMF, France
• No. 6: World’s Most Powerful Women

Mary Barra

• CEO, General Motors, U.S.
• No. 5: World’s Most Powerful Women

Melinda Gates

• Co-chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, U.S.
• No. 4: World’s Most Powerful Women

Janet Yellen

• Chair, Federal Reserve, U.S.
• No. 3: World’s Most Powerful Women

Hillary Clinton

• Presidential Candidate, U.S.
• No. 2: World’s Most Powerful Women

Angela Merkel

• Chancellor, Germany
• No. 1: World’s Most Powerful Women

-FORBES