Every year, the authoritative publication Forbes publishes a ranking of the most influential women in the world. In 2024, the list includes women who have achieved success through tremendous work and tremendous perseverance. Be sure that after reading this article, you will seriously think about whether the weaker sex is really so weak.
This year, two Russians entered the rating: Margarita Simonyan (chief editor of RT and Sputnik) and Elvira Nabiullina (chairman of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation). They ranked 52 and 49 respectively.
10Virginia Rometty
The success story of this influential woman proved that not only men are able to manage large corporations and skillfully build a business strategy. Virginia Rometty became the first female head of IBM. It is worth noting that until this moment this post was occupied exclusively by men. Today, Rometty is one of the most successful top managers in the world.
9Ana Patricia Botin
Ana Botin is the most powerful woman in Spain. As a fifth generation banker, she has devoted almost 25 years to banking. On account of its expansion of the group of commercial banks in Latin America, numerous acquisitions, as well as the reformation of investment programs. Ana Patricia Botin is the director of the Spanish company Banesto, as well as the main Executive and International Committees.
eightChristine Lagarde
The professional path of Christine Lagarde is very multi-stage. Throughout her life, she has changed about a dozen positions, most of which are ministerial. Previously, she was a member of various political parties of a liberal-conservative orientation, and was also a member of the Union for a Popular Movement. The main achievement, which determined the place of Lagarde in the Forbes list, is that she became the first woman to hold the post of G8 finance minister, and now also the head of the IMF.
7Abigail Johnson
Abigail Johnson, since 2006, has been consistently ranked among the most influential and successful women according to Forbes magazine. Her father, Edward Johnson, CEO of Fidelity Investments, helped to achieve this in many ways. His daughter is its vice president, and is also considered the sole heir to this family business. According to rough estimates, the fortune of Abigail Johnson is estimated at $ 13 billion.
6Susan Wojcicki
"Nothing is impossible in this world." This is exactly what the life credo of this strong and successful woman sounds like. For a long time Wojcicki was vice president of advertising at Google. And then, when a competitor to You Tube appeared on the horizon, Susan decided to buy it out rather than fight it. So YouTube got a new boss.
5Mary Barra
Mary Barra is the first woman to hold the post of General Director of the largest automobile concern General Motors. Her appointment to this position was a historic moment for the company, because GM is a symbol of conservative America, with men in traditional formal suits. Many saw a challenge in the fact that the post of general director was taken by an electrical engineer, and not an automotive engineer, as it should be.
4Sheryl Sandberg
Sheryl Sandberg is one of those women of authority who are said to be "self-made". She was a simple student from an ordinary average family. Cheryl is now VP of Sales and Operations at Google. In addition, she is an ardent fighter for women's rights.
3Melinda Gates
No wonder they say that behind every successful man is a wise woman. A vivid confirmation of this theory is the story of Bill Gates and his wife Melinda. At the time of their acquaintance, she was not one of those girls who were eagerly looking for a billionaire, because by that time Melinda herself was a very wealthy businesswoman. Now the couple live happily in Washington, DC, in a huge mansion worth several billion dollars.
2Theresa May
The new Prime Minister of Great Britain, who replaced Cameron in her post, Theresa May, from the very first days in her new position, showed everyone her vision of conservatism. It is not for nothing that the status of the “lead lady” was assigned to her, which is fully justified by her policy - flexible, but very tough.
oneAngela Merkel
According to Forbes, Merkel is the most powerful female politician in the last three years. During her tenure as Chancellor of Germany, she did a lot to improve the country's domestic and foreign policy. Sometimes Angela Merkel is called the "Teutonic Margaret Thatcher".
Today, more and more women occupy important positions in various spheres of society: in politics, economics, entrepreneurship. The very fact that a woman has equal rights with a man and her opinions and decisions are taken into account with the same measure of seriousness speaks of a big step towards a civilized liberal society.