The American business magazine Forbes has recognized the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, as the most influential woman in the world this year, LETA reports citing ELTA. The only representative from the Baltic states included in the ranking is Lithuania's Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene, who ranked 81st.
Forbes, which published the list of the 100 most influential women in the world for the 22nd time, noted that after the resignation of Lithuania's Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas in July amid a corruption scandal, the country needed a leader capable of restoring stability and trust. Political newcomer Ruginiene quickly formed a government. Among politicians, she ranked 13th.
In second place overall is European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde. Von der Leyen and Lagarde have occupied the top two spots on the Forbes list since 2022.
This year, the third most influential woman is Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takichi, who took office in October.
Fourth place went to Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, fifth to Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum, and sixth to the head of the global consulting firm Accenture, Julie Sweet.
The top ten also includes: General Motors CEO Mary Barra, Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser, Fidelity Investments CEO Abigail Johnson, and Advanced Micro Devices CEO Lisa Su.
In 11th place is philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, in 20th is SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell, and in 21st is singer Taylor Swift. 38th place went to Northrop Grumman CEO Kathy Warden, 50th to Chief Financial Officer of China's ByteDance (owner of TikTok) Julia Gao. The head of the largest bank in the UAE, First Abu Dhabi Bank, Hana Al Rostamani, ranked 65th, celebrity and entrepreneur Kim Kardashian ranked 71st, Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen ranked 84th, and the Director-General of the World Trade Organization Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala ranked 92nd.
The list is rounded out by the heroines of the animated film KPop Demon Hunters, created by Netflix and Sony Pictures Animation.
In compiling the ranking of influential women, Forbes considered four main criteria: money, media coverage, scale of influence, and areas of influence. In the case of political leaders, GDP and population were taken into account; for company executives, revenue, estimated value, and number of employees were considered. The frequency of media mentions was also analyzed.
The list includes 17 newcomers. The combined economic influence of the hundred women amounts to $37 trillion (about €31.5 trillion), and their decisions affect more than one billion people.
