Top 10 Most Powerful Women in the World

The first woman on our list started out at IBM in 1981 as a mere systems engineer. Thirty years later, IBM announced her as their first ever-female President. CEOs like Indra Nooyi of PepsiCo and Meg Whitman of Hewlett Packard Enterprise impress, but Rometty is a cut above the rest. As Chairwoman, President, and CEO of IBM, she’s in charge of one of America’s most important companies. Rometty’s made Forbes’ 50 Most Powerful Women in Business list 10 years in a row, topping it in 2012, 13, and 14. That probably has something to do with the fact that her net worth is somewhere in the area of 45 million dollars. Keep your eyes on Rometty, as she’s made big promises for IBM’s future.

According to Forbes, this Azerbaijan-born Angola isn’t only the richest woman in Angola, but she’s also the richest woman in Africa. That’s not surprising considering she has an estimated net worth of over $3 billion, but her wealth isn’t the only thing that makes Isabel dos Santos so influential. The oldest daughter of Angolan President José Eduardo dos Santos, she started her first business, a nightclub on the Luanda island, when she was just 24. She used this as a springboard to increase her business interests and investments around the world in industries like telecommunications, media and finance. From these, she has built a reputation as a smart, vibrant and respectable businessman over the years.

Currently the first ever female to be elected President of South Korea, and its first female Head of State, Park Geun-hye has helped the country work towards massive gains, both financially and socially. She worked her way to the top, serving as Chairwoman of the Grand National Party and as a member of the Korean National Assembly. Under her watch and according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Gender Gap Index, South Korean women have seen a notably improved level of educational and health equality. She is currently working on building a “Creative Economy” for South Korea, and while her approval ratings fluctuate, she has received much praise for her handling of the noisy neighbors to the North. She’s diffused several difficult situations with North Korea, and kept her country moving forward.

The current President of the Indian National Congress party and Chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance, Sonia Gandhi holds one of the most powerful political positions in the world. As a foreign-born leader in India, the most populous democratic nation with over 1.3 billion citizens, Gandhi has strategically worked to build a progressive nation. Rather than becoming Prime Minister in 2004, she elected to remain leader of the UPA as she could have more influence there. Still, she nominated the current Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, and also has her son, Rahul, in Parliament. Many praise Gandhi’s leadership, as she continues to help India overcome gender and ethnic prejudices.

In 2013, her net worth was $25 million. It quickly became $34 million. Curious how that happened? After becoming CEO of Lockheed Martin, one of the world’s biggest defense contractors, that year, she churned out record profits. Her personal financial boost was the reward for her success. Since then, she’s kept the company progressive. Under her leadership, Lockheed Martin has branched out into areas of defense such as cybersecurity and alternative energy. Additionally, she serves on the Board of Directors for Sandia National Laboratories – they do energy research for the US government – and DuPont, one of the world’s largest chemical companies. Needless to say, she’s a busy woman, but somehow, brilliantly, she always finds success.

At this point, is there anyone out there who doesn’t know Hillary’s name? She’s had an illustrious career in U.S. politics, initially becoming part of public consciousness when she served as First Lady under husband Bill Clinton’s U.S. presidency. Her real success, however, came later. She served as a Senator, representing the state of New York, from 2001 to 2009. From there, she served as the United States Secretary of State until 2013. Of course, as of 2015, she’s most known for being the most promising candidate to become of the first ever-female President of the United States. After failing to gain the 2008 democratic nomination, she finds herself the front runner for the 2016 election 8 years later.Oh yeah, one more thing, she’s also worth 31 million dollars.

Many of the women on this list exert power over their own individual countries. Christine Lagarde is just a little different. She’s in charge of 189 countries. In 2011, she was appointed the first-ever female Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund. For those unaware, the IMF works cooperatively with its countries to secure world financial stability, facilitate economic growth, and lessen world poverty. When she took the helm, the world was still working to recover from the financial crisis of the late 2000s. Lagarde has overseen positive global growth, and has also changed economic understandings. She has placed an emphasis on the progressive idea of increasing the female labor force as a way to reduce poverty and inequality.

Speaking of money, we move on to the Chair of the Board of Governors of the world’s most powerful bank, the Federal Reserve. As the central banking system of the United States, the Fed conducts the nation’s monetary policy and regulates the nation’s banks. As the first female chairperson of the Federal Reserve, Yellen is in charge of arguably the most important economy in the world. Coming off the Great Recession, she’s consistently worked to reduce the Fed’s monthly asset purchases of $85 billion dollars. She’s also had a responsibility to reign in the power of banks to reduce the possibility of another recession. Even in the company of fellow financial juggernauts like, say, Abigail Johnson,the President and CEO of investment firm Fidelity International, Yellen is likely to still be the most important person in the room.

So far on this list we’ve seen the power of politicians and businesswomen, but Melinda is different. She exerts the power of philanthropy. As co-founder and co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, she is arguably the world’s most influential philanthropist and ambassador for global development. Since establishing the foundation with her husband in 2000, the Gates have donated over $30 billion dollars. Her efforts are expansive, covering areas including poverty, renewable energy, and education. Recently, she has placed an emphasis on working to improve equality and justice for women. In 2012, she pledged $560 million dollars toward improving female access to contraception in third world countries. Without question, she works to improve the world every single day.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Michelle Obama

Michelle Bachelet

Queen Elizabeth II

Our top spot goes to the one of the most important political leaders in Europe. She’s done so much, but we’re just going to focus on her work as German Chancellor. Currently in her third term, Merkel helped push Germany through the global economic crisis caused by the recession and secure one of the best economies in the world. Not only did she help Germany, but she also she helped the rest of Europe too. Described as the de facto leader of the European Union, Merkel’s Germany provided bailouts and support for fellow EU countries, eventually stabilizing the Eurozone. She’s led the charge to support immigrants fleeing violent nations, proving her commitment beyond just Germany and to the entire world.

Do you agree with our list? Who do you think is the most powerful woman in the world? For more fascinating top 10, published daily, be sure to subscribe to MsMojo.