Forbes magazine released, for the first time, its list of the most powerful persons in the world, which is composed by 67 names (one for each 100 million people in the world), including political leaders, entrepreneurs, religious leaders, terrorists and others. The list also includes two Mexicans: Carlos Slim (who has a valued fortune of around 35 billion dollars and is currently the third richest person in the world) occupies the 6th place of the list, while Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, the leader of the Sinaloa cartel, occupies the 41th position.
As stated by Forbes, the objective of the compilation of the list is to expose, not glorify, power and to show how easy it can be to lose it, but also how difficult it is to obtain it. There were four main criteria considered when completing the list: number of persons they influence, the capacity to project further than their immediate social sphere, their access and control of resources and how actively they exert their power.
According to Forbes, the most powerful person in the whole world, who takes the top spot of the list is USA's President Barack Obama. Next were the Chinese and Russian leaders Hu Hintau and Vladimir Putin. Others that were included in the list were the founders Apple (Steve Jobs) and Google, the pope Benedict XVI, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Oprah Winfrey and Osama Bin Laden. To view the complete list head to Forbes webpage.
Source: Periódico El Imparcial, November 12 2009; General 02.
