In a massive update, Forbes released its list of world’s 100 most powerful women for this year. It should be noted that Forbes honours those based on top leadership positions in business, philanthropy, media, and politics. This year, the new entrant in the list is Indian Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman.
Let’s take a look at the list of other leaders who are named among the world’s 100 most powerful women by Forbes.
Sitharaman, who is the latest entry on the Forbes most powerful women list, is ranked 34th. She is India’s first female finance minister and has also worked as the defence minister earlier. Sitharaman is also the first female to hold the portfolio full time. Earlier, former prime minister Indira Gandhi briefly took charge of the ministry.
“In 2019, women around the globe took action, claiming leadership positions in government, business, philanthropy and media. These trailblazers are not to be messed with,” Forbes added in a statement.
Besides Nirmala Sitharaman, Executive Director Roshni Nadar Malhotra and Biocon Founder Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw have been listed among the world’s 100 most powerful women by Forbes.
It is worth mentioning here that German Chancellor Angela Merkel tops the Forbes 2019 list of ‘The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women’. President of the European Central Bank Christine Lagarde takes the second spot on the list followed by Nancy Pelosi (Speaker of the US House of Representatives) who is ranked third. Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina Wazed was also mentioned on the 29th spot.
“The top-ranked woman for the ninth year in a row, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, is crusading against anti-immigrant sentiment in Europe; Taylor Swift is battling industry stalwarts and private equity firms over musician song-ownership rights; and 16-year-old environmental activist Greta Thunberg— one of 23 newcomers to the list— is fighting inaction on climate change and galvanizing millions of young people around the globe.”