Like every year Forbes has just published the list of the most powerful and influential women in the world. The “power” was measured as a combination of public profile and financial heft. The economic component of the ranking considers job title and past career accomplishments, as well as the amount of money the woman controls. A chief executive "controls" the revenue of her business, for instance, while a head of state gets the country's gross domestic product.
Women nominated for the list are globally recognized women at the top of their fields: chief executives and their highest-ranked lieutenants, elected officials, nonprofit leaders. They don't have to be rich, but they do have to wield significant influence. This year, an architect, a war correspondent and several foundation executives all won spots on the list.
In 2008 the world’s most powerful woman is Angela Merkel (third time), German’s chancellor. Second place belongs to Sheila Bair, head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the embattled U.S. bank-deposit insurer. Indra Nooyi (No 3) of PepsiCo, the highest-ranked woman in business is followed by Angela Braly (No. 4) the head of big health insurer WellPoint. Fifth place belongs to Cynthia Carroll who is leading mining giant Anglo-American. Kraft’s chief Irene Rosenfeld ranks number six. Number 7 belongs to politician Condoleezza Rice - U.S. Secretary of State in Bush administration. Ho Ching the head of Singaporean sovereign wealth fund Temasek and owner of 15% of Merrill Lynch ranks number 8. Anne Lauvergeon the head of France based Areva company is listed on the 9th place. Anne Mulcahy (No. 10) has doubled her research and development budget to focus on color printing and eco-friendly technologies. Senator Hillary Clinton (28th place) was named the woman with the highest profile.
In total, the women ranked on Forbe’s list control $26 trillion worldwide. Although female leaders continue to climb higher, only 46% of the American jobs are held by women and less than 3% of the country's biggest companies have female chief executives, according to research nonprofit Catalyst.
Source: Forbes