Between 2009 and 2018 (with absence in 2017) the business magazine Forbes had compiled an annual list of the world's most powerful people. The list had one slot for every 100 million people, meaning in 2009 there were 67 people on the list, and by 2018, there were 75. Slots were allocated based on the amount of human and financial resources that they had sway over, as well as their influence on world events.[1]
| 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015[2] | 2016[3] | 2018[4] | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Barack ObamaPresident of the United States |  Hu JintaoGeneral Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party | Barack ObamaPresident of the United States | Vladimir PutinPresident of Russia | Xi JinpingGeneral Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party | |||||
| 2 | Hu JintaoGeneral Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party | Barack ObamaPresident of the United States | Vladimir PutinPrime Minister of Russia |  Angela MerkelChancellor of Germany | Barack ObamaPresident of the United States | Angela MerkelChancellor of Germany | Donald TrumpPresident-elect of the United States | Vladimir PutinPresident of Russia | ||
| 3 | Vladimir PutinPrime Minister of Russia |  Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al SaudKing of Saudi Arabia | Hu JintaoGeneral Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party | Vladimir PutinPresident of Russia | Xi JinpingGeneral Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party | Barack ObamaPresident of the United States | Angela MerkelChancellor of Germany | Donald TrumpPresident of the United States | ||
| 4 | Ben BernankeU.S. Chair of the Federal Reserve | Vladimir PutinPrime Minister of Russia | Angela MerkelChancellor of Germany | Bill GatesCo-Chair of the Gates Foundation Founder of Microsoft | FrancisPope of the Holy See | Xi JinpingGeneral Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party | Angela MerkelChancellor of Germany | |||
| 5 | Sergey Brin Larry Page Co-Founders of Google | Benedict XVIPope of the Holy See | Bill GatesCo-Chair of the Gates Foundation Founder of Microsoft | Benedict XVIPope of the Holy See | Angela MerkelChancellor of Germany | Xi JinpingGeneral Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party | FrancisPope of the Holy See | Jeff BezosChairman and CEO of Amazon | ||
| 6 |  Carlos SlimChief Executive of Telmex | Angela MerkelChancellor of Germany | Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al SaudKing of Saudi Arabia | Ben BernankeU.S. Chair of the Federal Reserve | Bill GatesCo-Chair of the Gates Foundation Founder of Microsoft | Janet YellenU.S. Chair of the Federal Reserve | Bill GatesCo-Chair of the Gates Foundation Founder of Microsoft | Janet YellenU.S. Chair of the Federal Reserve | FrancisPope of the Holy See | |
| 7 |  Rupert MurdochChairman of News Corporation | David CameronPrime Minister of the United Kingdom | Benedict XVIPope of the Holy See | Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al SaudKing of Saudi Arabia | Ben BernankeU.S. Chair of the Federal Reserve | Bill GatesCo-Chair of the Gates Foundation Founder of Microsoft | Janet YellenU.S. Chair of the Federal Reserve | Bill GatesCo-Chair of the Gates Foundation Founder of Microsoft | ||
| 8 | Mike DukeChief Executive of Walmart | Ben BernankeU.S. Chair of the Federal Reserve |  Mario DraghiPresident of the European Central Bank | Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al SaudKing of Saudi Arabia | Mario DraghiPresident of the European Central Bank | David CameronPrime Minister of the United Kingdom | Larry PageCo-Founder of Google | Mohammad bin Salman Al SaudCrown Prince of Saudi Arabia | ||
| 9 | Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al SaudKing of Saudi Arabia |  Sonia GandhiPresident of the Indian National Congress | Mark ZuckerbergFounder and CEO of Facebook | Xi JinpingGeneral Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party | Mario DraghiPresident of the European Central Bank | Sergey Brin Larry Page Co-Founders of Google | Narendra ModiPrime Minister of India | |||
| 10 | Bill GatesCo-Chair of the Gates Foundation Founder of Microsoft | David CameronPrime Minister of the United Kingdom | Mike DukeChief Executive of Walmart | David CameronPrime Minister of the United Kingdom | Larry PageCo-Founder of Google | Mark ZuckerbergCo-Founder of Facebook | Larry PageCo-Founder of Google | |||