First Lady Michelle Obama
First Lady Michelle Obama has been named the world’s most powerful woman according to ForbesWoman. On Wednesday, the media company published a list of women identified as the ‘World’s 100 Most Powerful Women.’ Obama ranked number one on the list, out-ranking several top CEO’s, celebrities and other country leaders.
Ranked last year as number 40, she replaced German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has been on the top of the list for four years running. Merkel is now ranked fourth.
Next on the list includes Kraft Foods Chief Executive Irene Rosenfeld who led a hostile $18 billion takeover of chocolate maker Cadbury. Third was the media powerhouse and talk show host, Oprah Winfrey. Oprah is ending ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ next year (2011) after twenty-five years to launch OWN, her cable network. Former presidential candidate and U.S Secretary of State Hilary Clinton is ranked fifth.
They based the ranking more on entrepreneurship and creative influences — and less on power and wealth. Forbes changed the methodology for ranking the women. The women are “shaping many of the agenda-setting conversations of the day,” said Moira Forbes, publisher and vice president of ForbesWoman.
Forbes also stated, “They have built companies and brands, sometimes by non-traditional means and they have broken through gender barriers in areas of commerce, politics, sports and media and cultural zeitgeist, and thereby affecting the lives of millions, sometimes billions of people.” Obama is a famous person, but her cultural influences have made a difference in many women’s lives, which is why she is on top.
Other women of power in the top ten include PepsiCo Inc. CEO Indra Nooyi (6), singer Lady Gaga (7), Westpac Banking Corp CEO Gayle Kelly (8), performing artist Beyonce Knowles (9) and popular talk show host Ellen Degeneres at number ten.
Power woman and GOP political party activist Sara Palin ranked 16 in the top 100 and number 3 in the Media category.
The First Lady of the United States is a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law. After her education, she was an attorney and public servant in the city of Chicago. As First Lady she has continued to lead a legacy for many women of young and old to follow.