Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women 2012 full list: India's Sonia Gandhi is sixth
Sonia Gandhi - Indian National Congress Party leader - is sixth most powerful woman
Image: Wikimedia Commons (Flickr: World Economic Forum)
65-year-old Sonia Gandhi, leader of Indian National Congress party, was named the sixth most powerful women in the list ahead of other prominent names such as Michelle Obama (First Lady, US), Christine Lagarde (IMF managing director) and Sheryl Sandberg (Facebook COO).
Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor topped the list followed by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at second position and Brazilian president Dilma Rouseff at third spot. Merkel has become the world's most powerful woman for the second time in a row.
American citizen, Nooyi, born in Tamil Nadu, south India was ranked 12th in the list. Nooyi is the chairman and chief executive of PepsiCo.
India’s Warrior, chief technology and strategy officer at Cisco Systems occupied 58th position and Chanda Kochhar, managing director chief executive of ICICI was at number 59. Mazumdar-Shaw, founder and chairman of Biocon Ltd was at 80th position.
Britain’s Queen was at 26th position and author Rowling was named 78th most powerful woman.
The list includes influential women from around the globe in sectors such as business, politics, philanthropy and celebrities.
Here is the full list of Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women 2012:
Rank |
Name |
Country |
Occupation |
| 1 | Angela Merkel | Germany | Chancellor - Politics |
| 2 | Hillary Clinton | US | Secretary of State - Politics |
| 3 | Dilma Rousseff | Brazil | President - Politics |
| 4 | Melinda Gates | US | Co-chair of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation - Humanitarian |
| 5 | Jill Abramson | US | Executive editor of New York Times - Media |
6 |
Sonia Gandhi |
India |
President of Indian National Congress - Politics |
| 7 | Michelle Obama | US | First Lady of United States - Politics |
| 8 | Christine Lagarde | France | Managing director of IMF - Humanitarian |
| 9 | Janet Napolitano | US | Secretary of Department of Homeland Security - Politics |
| 10 | Sheryl Sandberg | US | COO of Facebook - Technology |
| 11 | Oprah Winfrey | US | Entreprenuer - Celebrity |
12 |
Indra Nooyi |
US |
Chairman & CEO of PepsiCo - Business |
| 13 | Irene Rosenfeld | US | Chairman & CEO of Kraft Foods - Business |
| 14 | Lady Gaga | US | Musician & philanthropist - Celebrity |
| 15 | Virginia Rometty | US | President & CEO of IBM - Technology |
| 16 | Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner | Argentina | President - Politics |
| 17 | Ursula Burns | US | Chairman & CEO of Xerox - Technology |
| 18 | Meg Whitman | US | CEO of HP - Technology |
| 19 | Aung San Suu Kyi | Burma | Chair & parlamentarian of National League for Democracy |
| 20 | Maria das Garcas Silva Foster | Brazil | CEO of Petrobras-Petroleo Brasil |
| 21 | Marissa Mayer | US | CEO of Yahoo - technology |
| 22 | Anne Sweeney | US | Co-chair of Disney Media Networks & President of Disney - Media |
| 23 | Diane Sawyer | US | Anchor of World News for ABC, Walt Disney - Media |
| 24 | Angela Braly | US | CEO of Wellpoint - Business |
| 25 | Susan Wojcicki | US | Senior vice president of Google - technology |
26 |
Queen Elizabeth II |
UK |
Monarch of United Kingdom |
| 27 | Julia Gillard | Australia | Prime Minister - Politics |
| 28 | Nancy Pelosi | US | Minority leader of the House of Representatives, US - Politics |
| 29 | Arianna Huffington | US | Editor-in-chief, Huffington Post Media Group, AOL - Media |
| 30 | Yingluck Shinawatra | Thailand | Prime Minister - Politics |
| 31 | Kathleen Sebelius | US | Secretary of Department of Health and Human Services - Politics |
| 32 | Beyonce Knowles | US | Actress, Entrepreneur, Musician - Celebrity |
| 33 | Diane von Furstenberg | US | Owner & fashion designer of Diane von Furstenberg Studio - Business |
| 34 | Helen Clark | New Zealand | Administrator of UN Development Programme - Humanitarian |
| 35 | Georgina Rinehart | Australia | Executive chairman of Hancock Prospecting - Billionaire |
| 36 | Amy Pascal | US | Co-chair of Sony Pictures television, Sony - Media |
| 37 | Margaret Chan | China | Director general of WHO - Humanitarian |
| 38 | Jennifer Lopez | US | Actress, Musician, Philanthropist - Celebrity |
| 39 | Sherry McCoy | US | CEO of Avon Products - Business |
| 40 | Shakira | Colombia | Musician, Philanthropist - Celebrity |
| 41 | Mary Barra | US | SVP of global product development at General Motors - Business |
| 42 | Zhang Xin | China | Cofounder & Ceo of Soho China |
| 43 | Alice Walton | US | Chairman of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art - Billionaire |
| 44 | Laura Lang | US | CEO of Time Inc., Time Warner - Media |
| 45 | Angela Ahrendts | US | CEO of Burberry Group - Business |
| 46 | Sue Naegle | US | President of HBO Entertainment, Time Warner Cable - Media |
| 47 | Ellen DeGeneres | US | Comedian, Philanthropist - Celebrity |
| 48 | Safra Catz | US | President & CFO of Oracle - Technology |
| 49 | Laurene Powell Jobs | US | Founder & Chairman of Emerson Collective - Billionaire |
| 50 | Rosalind Brewer | US | President & CEO of Sam's Club, Wal-Mart Stores - Business |
| 51 | Anna Wintour | US | Editor-in-chief, Vogue, Conde Nast Publications - Media |
| 52 | Helen Gayle | US | President & CEO of CARE - Humanitarian |
| 53 | Christiane Amanpour | US | Chief international correspondent at CNN - Media |
| 54 | Rosalia Mera | Spain | Investor, Philanthropist - Billionaire |
| 55 | Cynthia Carroll | US | CEO -of Anglo American - Business |
| 56 | Cher Wang | Taiwan | Cofounder and Chair of HTC - Technology |
| 57 | Abigail Johnson | US | President of Fidelity Investment - Business |
58 |
Padmasree Warrior |
India |
Chief technology and strategy officer, Cisco Systems - Technology |
59 |
Chanda Kochhar |
India |
Managing director & CEO of ICICI Bank - Business |
| 60 | Gail Kelly | Australia | CEO of Westpak Banking Group - Business |
| 61 | Margaret Hamburg | US | Commissioner of Food and Drug Administration |
| 62 | Ellen Kullman | US | Chairman & CEO of El du Pont de Nemours - Business |
| 63 | Drew Gilpin Faust | US | President of Harvard University - Humanitarian |
| 64 | Shari Arison | Israel | Investor, Philanthropist - Billionaire |
| 65 | Mary Schapiro | US | Chair of Securities and Exchange Commission - Politics |
| 66 | Angelina Jolie | US | Actress, Philanthropist - Celebrity |
| 67 | Miuccia Prada | Italy | Owner & Fashion designer of Prada - Business |
| 68 | Carol Meyrowitz | US | CEO of TJX Cos - Business |
| 69 | Ertharin Cousin | US | Executive director of World Food Programme at UN - Humanitarian |
| 70 | Sue Gardner | Canada | Executive Director of Wikimedia Foundation - Technology |
| 71 | Joyce Banda | Malawi | President - Politics |
| 72 | Sri Mulyani Indrawati | Indonesia | Managing Director of World Bank - Humanitarian |
| 73 | Bonnie Hammer | US | Chairman of NBC Universal - Media |
| 74 | Chua Sock Koong | Singapore | Group CEO of SingTel - Business |
| 75 | Sofia Vergara | Columbia | Actress, Entrepreneur - Celebrity |
| 76 | Ho Ching | Singapore | CEO of Temasek - Business |
| 77 | Tina Brown | US | Editor-in-chief of Newsweek - Media |
78 |
JK Rowling |
UK |
Author - Celebrity |
| 79 | Chan Laiwa | China | Philanthropist - Billionaire |
80 |
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw |
India |
Founder & chair of Biocon - Technology |
| 81 | Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala | Nigeria | Minister of Finance - Politics |
| 82 | Ellen Johnson Sirleaf | Liberia | President - Politics |
| 83 | Gisele Bundchen | Brazil | Entreprenuer, Philanthropist, Supermodel - Celebrity |
| 84 | Mary Meeker | US | General Partner of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers - Technology |
| 85 | Shaikha Al-Bahar | Kuwait | CEO of Kuwait, National Bank of Kuwait - Business |
| 86 | Marjorie Scardino | US | CEO of Pearson - Media |
| 87 | Solina Chau | Hong Kong | Director of Li Ka Shing Foundation - Humanitarian |
| 88 | Jan Fields | US | President of McDonald's USA - Business |
| 89 | Weili Dai | US | Co-founder of Marvell Technology Group - Technology |
| 90 | Risa Lavizzo-Mourey | US | President & CEO of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation - Humanitarian |
| 91 | Sun Yafang | China | Chair of Huawei Technologies - Technology |
| 92 | Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi | UAE | Minister of Foreign Trade - Politics |
| 93 | Guler Sabanci | Turkey | Chairman & Managing Director, Sabanci Holding - Business |
| 94 | Greta Van Susteren | US | Anchor at FOX News, News Corp - Media |
| 95 | Mary Callahan Erdoes | US | CEO of J.P. Morgan Asset Management at JPMorgan Chase - Business |
| 96 | Mindy Grossman | US | CEO of HSN - Media |
| 97 | Patricia Woertz | US | Chairman, CEO & President of Archer Daniels Midland - Business |
| 98 | Judith Rodin | US | President of Rockefeller Foundation - Humanitarian |
| 99 | Beth Brooke | US | Global Vice Chair of Public Policy at Ernst & Young - Business |
| 100 | Sheikha Mayassa Al Thani | Qatar | Chair of Qatar Museums Authority - Humanitarian |
Featured
Desi Events
Indian Rupee Exchange Rate