The ultimate ranking of the world’s most influential people.

Who wields the power? Who has the influence? Who are the real decision-makers?

SEE TOP 10

Who Rules The World - TOP 10 (20212)

See how The Top 10 compare in each of the three metrics:

Joe Biden
1
Joe Biden
714.16
300.00
45.08
369.08
Politics
USA
80
 yrs
Larry Page
2
Larry Page
671.87
221.90
253.75
196.22
Media
USA
49
 yrs
Bill Gates
3
Bill Gates
656.93
277.47
147.32
232.14
Business
USA
67
 yrs
Sergey Brin
4
Sergey Brin
647.80
221.20
230.38
196.22
Media
USA
49
 yrs
Li Keqiang
5
Li Keqiang
630.63
210.89
19.75
400.00
Politics
CHINA
67
 yrs
Elon Musk
6
Elon Musk
625.65
272.67
133.29
219.69
Business
USA
51
 yrs
Xi Jinping
7
Xi Jinping
604.36
211.09
26.81
366.47
Politics
CHINA
69
 yrs
Jeff Bezos
8
Jeff Bezos
472.12
190.09
104.27
177.76
Business
USA
58
 yrs
Mark Zuckerberg
9
Mark Zuckerberg
470.93
71.50
300.00
99.42
Business
USA
38
 yrs
Tim Cook
10
Tim Cook
446.47
210.23
62.53
173.71
Business
USA
62
 yrs
Larry Page
1
Larry Page
827.82
260.02
300.00
267.81
Media
US
47
 yrs
Joe Biden
2
Joe Biden
821.11
299.44
121.67
400.00
Politics
US
78
 yrs
Sergey Brin
3
Sergey Brin
781.56
259.52
254.23
267.81
Media
US
47
 yrs
Xi Jinping
4
Xi Jinping
625.67
201.64
30.96
387.06
Politics
CN
67
 yrs
Jeff Bezos
5
Jeff Bezos
513.69
207.56
128.36
177.76
Business
US
57
 yrs
Tim Cook
6
Tim Cook
503.29
209.76
73.93
219.59
Business
US
60
 yrs
Sundar Pichai
7
Sundar Pichai
473.96
169.56
131.00
173.40
Business
IN
48
 yrs
Narendra Modi
8
Narendra Modi
460.62
41.83
147.12
271.67
Politics
IN
60
 yrs
Mark Zuckerberg
9
Mark Zuckerberg
425.33
91.37
219.21
114.76
Business
US
36
 yrs
Elon Musk
10
Elon Musk
417.78
212.88
37.60
167.31
Business
US
49
 yrs
More on the top 10
Warren Buffett

Define Power in the Twenty First Century:

Wealth has changed, influence has changed, power has changed.

Who’s calling the shots in today’s society? To answer this and reveal who really rules the world, we’ve created a unique new metric that harnesses the power of data to consider so much more than simply what’s in the bank.  

What separates the leaders from the followers? Who are the rulers of tomorrow and which stars are on the rise? Find out, only with Who Rules The World?

Five Dominant Sectors

Because the concept of power has undergone a seismic shift, the metric that measures it has had to evolve too.

The five sectors that combine to form the definitive Who Rules The World? index are as follows:

Icon for business
Business
Icon for Politics
Politics
Icon for Entertainment
Entertainment
Icon for Sports
Sports
Icon for Media
Media

Three Key Pillars of Power

In order to compile a definitive index, three key data points were leveraged: Wealth, Power and Influence.

These coalesce to determine who reigns supreme, where their strengths lie, and who has the capacity to tip the balance.

Icon for Wealth

Money may not be able to buy you happiness, but it certainly has a bearing on status, visibility and affluence.

As a metric it is wholly objective, and as such plays a central role in the Who Rules The World? index.

The data collated to establish ‘wealth’ takes into consideration both personal assets and those an individual has indirect control over. The resultant score is determined by combining an individual’s   net worth and that of their entities. In the case of political figures, entities are substituted by the wealth indicators of the country over which they rule.  

Icon for Power

Here we come to the question of ‘real-world’ power. This is an individual’s ability to make a tangible difference and their ability to impact the lives of others.

This could mean (to vastly varying degrees) managing a company, running a business empire or ruling a country.

The data collated in this instance takes into consideration economic and military strength, though also how important an individual is within an entity, in terms of the strength they wield.  

Icon for Influence

No longer the preserve of economic or political spheres, influence now encompasses the many facets of the internet and all its social media channels therein.

There are questions of reach, likes, followers and impressions to consider, before even beginning to include television hours and viewing figures.

The data for this category spans audience demographic and size, as well as social media and search engine statistics.

The Stories Behind the Numbers

Top Locations for the Top 100

World Map graphic
USA
42%
Canada
4%
Europe
13%
uk
5%
china
8%
india
4%

The Industries Dominating the Top 20

Icon for Politics
Politics
50%
Icon for Business
Business
40%
Icon for Media
Media
10%
Icon for Sports
Sports
0%
Icon for Entertainment
Entertainment
0%

The Numbers Behind the Top Ten

$86B
Top 10 combined Total wealth
(Personal + entity they run)
$63.92T
Top 10 combined
personal wealth

The total size of the networks individuals have access to is one of
the crucial factors affecting the WRTW index.

Below are the 5 largest people networks in the world:

Map of India
6.3B
Map of India
3.6B
Map of India
1.8B
Map of India
1.4B
Map of China
1.4B
China

So, What Are The Rulers Up To?

Bill Gates

And the Top Spot Goes To …

Leading the world's most powerful economy amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, global economic crisis and increased political polarisation put Joe Biden in the top position on the 2022 WRTW index.

Read more about this year's number one

The Highest New Entry in the Top 10 ...

Li Keqiang is a newcomer to this year’s WRTW list, claiming the sixth spot.

Mr Keqiang is the Premier of the People’s Republic of China, and, when his power and influence are combined with that of President Xi Jinping, this power couple come a close second to President Joe Biden in terms of influence and are considered one of the most powerful pairings in the world.

With recent reports indicating that the Chinese media are giving more airtime to Mr.  Keqiang, there is strong speculation afoot that the Premier is taking charge of the government’s economic policy.

Li Keqiang
Bill Gates

What’s New in the Tech World?

Bill Gates is claiming this year number 3 spot on the Top 10. Mostly due to Microsoft’s Market capitalization that went up by 50% to over 200T in the beginning of January 2022. It’s currently at 1.95T and  Microsoft the world's third most valuable company by market cap. 

Charli D’Amelio

Youngest person in the top 100

Billie Eilish has been replaced by the 18 year old Charli D’Amelio as the youngest person on the TOP 100.

D’Amelio is an American dancer that competed in competitions for over 10 year before she started her social media career in 2019 by posting on the video-sharing platform TikTok.

She began posting dance videos and quickly amassed a large following and became the most followed creator on the platform, until she was surpassed by Khaby Lame in 2022. D’Amelio currently holds the 91st position in the Top 100.  

Charli D’Amelio

Who Rules The World? 100 Index

SEE THE COMPLETE INDEX