Not only in India, but women across the world are shining in different sectors. They are breaking age-old patriarchal doctrines and raiding what was traditionally considered male bastions. MacKenzie Scott tops Forbes’s 18th annual ranking of the world’s most powerful women in 2021.
On December 7, Forbes announced its 18th annual ranking of The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women, the definitive audit of the foremost CEOs and iconic entrepreneurs, heads of state, pioneer philanthropists and policymakers who are solving society’s most intractable problems.
Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has made it to the Forbes’ 100 Most Powerful Women annual list of powerful women for the third year in a row. Sitharaman who was ranked 37th this year was 41st on the list in 2020 and 34th in 2019. Nirmala Sitharaman is the first full-time female Finance Minister of India.
Besides Nirmala Sitharaman, other Indian women featured on the Forbes list are the HCL Corporation CEO Roshni Nadar Malhotra ranked 52, Biocon Executive Chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw ranked 72, and Nykaa founder Falguni Nayar ranked 88th.
Take a look at the world’s top 10 most powerful women right now.
1. MacKenzie Scott
An American novelist and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott top this year’s World’s 100 Most Powerful Women ranking by replacing former German chancellor Angela Merkel, who ranked first for 15 of the prior 17 iterations of this list. Currently, MacKenzie Scott is the world’s most powerful woman according to Forbes list.
MacKenzie Scott has donated her wealth at an unprecedented scale. She has given away $8.6 billion of her fortune in charitable donation including $2.7 billion this year alone.
2. Kamala Harris
Kamala Harris is an American politician and attorney who is the 49th and current vice president of the United States. Harris is the first female vice president and the highest-ranking female official in U.S. history, as well as the first African American and first Asian American vice president.
3. Christine Lagarde
Christine Lagarde Mary Barra features third on Forbes’ 100 Most Powerful Women 2021 list.
Lagarde is a French politician and lawyer who is the current President of the European Central Bank, a position she has held since November 1, 2019.
Prior to this appointment and between July 2011 and September 2019, she was the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund.
4. Mary Barra
Mary Barra is Chair and Chief Executive Officer of General Motors. She was elected Chair of the GM Board of Directors on Jan. 4, 2016, and has served as CEO of GM since Jan. 15, 2014.
Mary Barra features fourth on Forbes’ 100 Most Powerful Women 2021 list.
5. Melinda French Gates
Melinda French Gates is the fifth world’s most powerful woman, according to the latest Forbes report. Also, Melinda French Gates is one of the most powerful women in the philanthropy sector as co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
In early May 2021, Bill Gates and Melinda Gates announced they’re divorced and after that Melinda became a billionaire on her own after Bill Gates transferred her $2.4 billion worth of stock, according to filings.
6. Abigail Johnson
An American billionaire businesswoman Abigail Pierrepont Johnson has been president and chief executive officer of the American investment firm Fidelity Investments since 2014.
Abigail Johnson owns an estimated 24.5% stake in the firm, which has $4.2 trillion in managed assets.
7. Ana Patricia Botin
Ana Patricia Botin is a Spanish banker who has served as the executive chairman of Santander Group since 2014. She is the fourth generation of the Botin family to hold this role. According to Forbes’ Ana Patricia ranked seventh on the list of 100 Most Powerful Women around the world.
8. Ursula von der Leyen
Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen is a German politician and physician who has been President of the European Commission since December 1, 2019. From 2005 until 2019, She served in Angela Merkel’s cabinet -the longest tenure of any cabinet member. For the last six years of her time in Merkel’s cabinet, Ursula was Germany’s defence minister.
9. Tsai Ing-wen
Tsai Ing-wen is a Taiwanese politician and academic serving as the President of the Republic of China since 2016. A member of the Democratic Progressive Party, Tsai is the first female president of Taiwan. She has served as Chair of the DPP since 2020, and previously from 2008 to 2012 and 2014 to 2018.
Tsai’s leadership through Covid time is seen as a global model in 2020, Taiwan instituted a rigorous track and trace program to prevent mass contagion. Tsai has vowed to make Taiwan an indispensable member of the world by stimulating the economy with initiatives in biotech, defence, and green energy.
10. Julie Sweet
Julie Sweet is an American business executive. Julie Sweet is chief executive officer of Accenture, a multinational professional services company. She is also a member of the Global Management Committee for Accenture.
According to The New York Times, she is “one of the most powerful women in corporate America” and according to Forbes’ 2021 list, she is featured in the top 10 world’s most powerful women.
