The ultimate ranking of the world’s most influential people.
Who wields the power? Who has the influence? Who are the real decision-makers?
Who Rules The World - TOP 10 (20212)
See how The Top 10 compare in each of the three metrics:
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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:
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.
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.
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.
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
The Industries Dominating the Top 20
The Numbers Behind the Top Ten
(Personal + entity they run)
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:
So, What Are The Rulers Up To?
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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.
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.
