Forbes' annual ranking of The World’s Most Powerful People identifies one person out of every 100 million whose actions mean the most. View the full list of The World's Most Powerful PeopleXi's elevation to the world's most powerful person unseats Russian President Vladimir Putin (#2), who held the top spot for an unprecedented four consecutive years. The fourth most powerful person in the world also happens to be the most powerful woman: Angela Merkel, the chancellor of Germany. Read More: New Members of The World's Most Powerful PeopleTo compile the ranking of The World's Most Powerful People, we considered hundreds of candidates from various walks of life all around the globe, and measured their power along four dimensions. Any ranking of the world's most powerful people is going to be subjective, so we don't pretend ours is definitive.

Source: Forbes May 08, 2018 11:03 UTC