The world's most powerful people

Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, speaks with the confessional leaders during a ceremony at the Red Square in Moscow on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2014, during the National Unity Day, a national holiday which this year marks the 402th anniversary of the 1612 expulsion of Polish occupiers from the Kremlin. (AP Photo/ Vasily Maximov, pool)

No one would call Vladimir Putin, the most powerful man in the world for the second year running, a good guy. In 2014 he strong-armed his way into possession of the Crimea and waged an ugly proxy war in neighboring Ukraine, during which an almost certainly Russian-supplied surface-to-air missile downed a civilian jetliner. But as the undisputed, unpredictable head of an energy-rich, nuclear-tipped state, no one would ever call him weak.

Our annual ranking of the World’s 72 Most Powerful People (one for every 100 million people on the planet) is based on voting by a panel of FORBES editors, who consider things like financial resources, scope of action and the number of people they impact.
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This year there are 12 newcomers, including Narendra Modi, the new Indian prime minister, at No. 15; Alibiba founder—and China’s richest man—Jack Ma (No. 30); and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the self-proclaimed caliph of the bloodthirsty Islamic State (No. 54). The top five positions are unchanged from last year, with Barack Obama remaining in second place ahead of China’s Xi Jinping.
This year’s list features 17 heads of state who run nations with a combined GDP of some $48 trillion — including the three most powerful people, Putin, Obama and Xi, the general secretary of the Communist Party of China. The 39 CEOs and chairs here control over $3.6 trillion in annual revenues. Among them are 14 founders, including the newest billionaires on the list, Alibaba's Ma and  Tencent's Ma Huateng (No. 53). Speaking of, this year’s class has 28 billionaires with a cumulative personal net worth valued in excess of $790 billion.
Here, a quick peek at the Most Powerful People in the World 2014:
Newcomers: Among the 12 newcomers are Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi  (No. 15), Wal-Mart CEO Doug McMillon (No. 29), Egypt President Abdel el-Sisi (No. 51) and Mary Barra, GM CEO (No. 62). Alexey Miller, CEO of Russian gas giant Gazprom, makes a return appearance at No. 47, after dropping of the list in years past. Miller is one of a few of Putin’s inner circle who was not placed on the U.S. and Western economic sanctions list.
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Top 10: This is the second year in a row that Putin carries the crown. Obama had been on the top of the list for every year with the exception of 2010, when Hu Jintao, the former political and military leader of China, was No. 1. The top five on the list remain the same as 2013, while Fed chief Janet Yellen moves into No. 6 and U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron slides up to No. 10. The most powerful people in business are now Google's Larry Page and Sergey Brin, moving into slot No. 9.
Women Moving Up: For the first time, two women, Angela Merkel (No. 5) and Yellen reach the top 10. This year there are nine women on the list, representing 12% of the world’s most powerful — in stark contrast to being 50% of the world’s population. While the same number as last year, the inaugural list from 2009 included only three women leaders — or just 4.4%. Recently re-elected Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and South Korea President Park Geun-Hye join the world’s most important NGO’s run by women -- Christine Lagarde and Margaret Chan -- and business leaders Barra, Ginni Rometty and Gina Rinehart.

Billionaires: Worth a cumulative $790 billion. Sure they’re rich but many of these billionaires deserve special attention for their philanthropic work, including the world’s richest man Bill Gates, as well as Warren Buffett, Carlos Slim Helu, Michael Bloomberg, Charles and David Koch, and Li-Ka-shing.
Entrepreneurs Represent: There are 14 in total. As expected, many are headquartered on the West Coast:  Google’s Page and Brin, Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk. Global entrepreneurial spirit spans from Japan’s  Masayoshi Son and Nigeria’s Aliko Dangote to China’s Robin Li.

Asia Emerges: Asia Pacific makes a strong showing this year with 19 from the region making the cut. There are many different paths to power. While Ban Ki-Moon of South Korea and Margaret Chan of Hong Kong are NGO heavyweights, leading the U.N. and W.H.O., respectively, others are the products of a career in politics, including Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda and Premier Li Keqiang of China. Making a big impression this year are the self-made entrepreneurs: Li Ka Shing, Jack Ma, Masayoshi Son, Robin Li, Ma Huateng and Terry Gou.

Year-over-year growth: The FORBES Most Powerful started in 2009, seeking to answer a straight yet complex question: What is the true nature of power and can we really compare and rank heads of state with religious figures and drug traffickers? The premise has always been to select one person for every 100 million on the planet. The first list had 67 slots. This year we are up to 72. At this sixth edition, it’s notable that many of the leaders who made the top 10 on the inaugural list are still on today: Obama, Putin, Bill Gates, the King of Saudi Arabia, billionaire Helu, Page and Brin, and Rupert Murdoch.

1. Vladimir Putin

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REUTERS/RIA Novosti/Pool/Alexei Druzhinin

This year's snapshot of power puts the Russian President on top. Putin has solidified his control over Russia and anyone watching the chess match over Syria has a clear idea of the shift in the power towards Putin on the global stage. The ex-KGB strongman--who controls a nuclear-tipped army, a permanent seat on the UN Security Council and some of the world's largest oil and gas reserves--is allowed to serve another six-year term, which could keep him in office until 2024.

2. Barack Obama

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AP Photo/Matt Rourke

Heading into the second half of his second term, Obama seems stymied both by the West African Ebola breakout and a blood-thirsty militia named ISIS, which threaten to undo all the gains of an 8-year war in Iraq that cost the lives of nearly 4,500 Americans. At home, racially charged images of unrest in Ferguson, Missouri mock his 2008 message of "Change." On the plus side, unemployment is at its lowest level since the Great Recession and the markets continue test new highs.

3. Xi Jinping

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REUTERS/Bogdan Cristel

The 60-year-old Xi is the paramount political and military leader of China, ruling over 1.3 billion people (close to 20% of the world's population). China owns some $1.3 trillion in U.S. securities, making it the largest shareholder of U.S. debt. There are 122 billionaires in the country, up from zero one decade ago.
4. Pope Francis.

REUTERS/Giampiero Sposito

The March 2013 election of Pope Francis has breathed new energy into the world's largest religion with 1.2 billion followers. The first Jesuit and Latin American Bishop of Rome preaches compassion for the poor and a greater role for women while signaling the church to quiet its focus on "only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptives." He has embraced social media, regularly using Twitter to dispense religious advice to his 3-plus million followers and is responsible for the world's first papal "selfie."
5. Angela Merkel

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AP Photo/Michael Sohn

Fresh off a sweeping reelection last fall, Chancellor Merkel made headlines when she accused the U.S. National Security Agency of tapping her cell phone. Her accusations, along with revelations that the NSA may have been surveilling her since 2002, led to a White House order that the nation's data privacy protections be extended to non-Americans. Despite this tension, she has continued to be a crucial ally to the U.S. on global issues such as the crisis in Ukraine. The world's most powerful woman for nine of the past 10 years, Merkel broke through the ranks of Germany's male-dominated politics to become the first woman to serve as Chancellor, a position she has held since 2005. Merkel is an original architect of the 28-member European Union with a GDP of $15.8 trillion.
6. Janet Yellen .

AP Photo/Susan Walsh

The world watched the historic passing of the Federal Reserve baton from two-term chief Ben Bernanke to Janet Yellen this February. She is the first woman to head the most influential central bank in the world, given the size of the Fed's balance sheet ($4 trillion) relative to the U.S. GDP ($16.7 trillion). Top on her to-do list: maximize employment. "Too many Americans still can't find a job and worry how they'll pay their bills and provide for their families," she said at her White House nomination. "The Federal Reserve can help if it does its job effectively."
7. Bill Gates 

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Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

America's richest man, Bill Gates, is using his billions to effect major social change around the globe. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has given away $30 billion since 2000, a fortune that on its own would be one of the 20 largest in America. The foundation is working to eliminate polio in the three countries where it still exists and is committed to stamping out malaria wherever possible.

8. Mario Draghi  .

REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

As chief banker of the world's largest ¬currency area--the euro zone's collective GDP is now nearly $17 trillion--Draghi faces the Herculean task of trying to maintain financial unity across 17 countries. But if anyone can wrangle the interests of nations as diverse as Germany and Greece, it might be the man who navigated the minefield of Italian politics so deftly that he earned himself a nickname: "Super Mario."
9. Larry Page, Sergey Brin 

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AP Photo/Ben Margot

The pair run the most influential company of the digital era. Google still dominates online search, with a 65% share of the global market. There are now more than a billion active Android devices, one for every seven people. CEO Larry Page oversaw a string of acquisitions in the past year, including programmable home thermostat maker Nest for $3.2 billion. In October, he transferred most of his daily responsibilities to Sundar Pichai so he could focus on longer-term strategy. Cofounder Brin runs Google X, the secretive division of the search engine company that focuses on risky projects, such as self-driving cars, smart contact lenses, airborne wind turbines and Google Glass. In April Google issued a stock split that helped consolidate the voting power of Page, Brin and other executives. The company has 40,000 employees in 40 countries.

10. David Cameron

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Carl Court/Getty Images

The Conservative PM guides the world's sixth largest economy. He has recently been criticized for a flip-flop approach to green taxes after he pledged to slash household energy bills. The Oxford graduate and descendent of King William IV (1830-1837) has fired at the Guardian newspapers and NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden for "making it a lot more difficult to keep our countries and our citizens safe." He has two years to galvanize the Tories ahead of a 2015 general election.

 Culled from Forbes