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Forbes Announces 12th Annual List Of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women

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Angela Merkel Retains No. 1 Ranking;19 Newcomers to List

NEW YORK (May 26, 2015) Forbes today announced its 12th annual World’s 100 Most Powerful Women, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel topping this year’s list for the fifth consecutive year and ten times in total. She is followed by presidential candidate Hillary Clinton (No. 2), and Melinda Gates, once again, at No. 3. U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellenfalls two spots to No. 4, and General Motors CEO Mary Barra moves up two spots to No. 5.

Members of the 2015 ranking represent women in eight categories - technology, politics, business, finance, media, entertainment, philanthropy and billionaires.To determine the rank within each category, as well as overall rank on the list of 100, Forbes applied four metrics: money, media, impact and spheres of influence.

The list features eight heads of state and one monarch, who govern nations with a combined GDP of $9.1 trillion — including the No. 1 Power Woman, German Chancellor Angela Merkel. This year’s Power Women control nearly $1 trillion in annual revenues. There are 15 billionaires with a total net worth in excess of $73.3 billion. The 100 women on the list have a combined social media footprint that includes 474 million Twitter and YouTube followers.

Among the 19 newcomers on this year’s list are Taylor Swift (No. 64), entertainer-philanthropist and the youngest on the list at 25; Federica Mogherini (No. 36), European Union Foreign Policy Chief; Ewa Kopacz (No. 40), Prime Minister of Poland; Katharine Viner (No. 80), Guardian Editor-in-Chief; Jenny Lee (No. 98), GGV Capital Managing Partner; Ruth Porat (No. 32), Google CFO; Loretta Lynch (No. 34), U.S. Attorney General; Beth Comstock (No. 55), GE Business Innovations CEO; Donna Langley (No. 58), Universal Pictures Chair; Nemat “Minouche”Shafik (No. 66), Bank of England Deputy Governor; Elizabeth Holmes (No. 72), Billionaire Founder of Theranos; Dana Walden (No. 74), Fox Television Group CEO; Kaci Kullmann Five (No. 86), Norwegian Nobel Committee Chair; Shobhana Bhartia (No. 93), HT Media Chair; Raja Easa Al Gurg (No. 97), Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group Managing Director; Boo-Jin Lee (No. 100), Cheil Industries President. Returnees to this year’s list include Katie Jacobs Stanton (No. 60), Twitter Global Media VP; Fabiola Gianotti (No. 83), CERN Director General; and Ana Patricia Botin (No. 18), Banco Santander Chair.

Notable drop-offs include Lady Gaga, Amy Pascal, Yajun Wu, Aung San Suu Kyi, Gisele Bündchen, Margaret Hamburg, Cher Wang, Lila Tretikov, Maria das Gracas Silva Foster, Gail Kelly, Patricia Woertz, Shuli Hu and Jennifer Li.

The top 15 include:

RANK NAME TITLE, COUNTRY
1 Angela Merkel Chancellor, Germany
2 Hillary Rodham Clinton Presidential Candidate; Former Secretary of State
3 Melinda Gates Co-Chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, U.S.
4 Janet Yellen U.S. Federal Reserve Bank Chair, U.S.
5 Mary Barra CEO, General Motors, U.S.
6 Christine Lagarde Managing Director, International Monetary Fund, U.S.
7 Dilma Rousseff President, Brazil
8 Sheryl Sandberg COO, Facebook, U.S
9 Susan Wojcicki CEO, YouTube, U.S.
10 Michelle Obama First Lady, U.S.
11 Park Geun-hye President, South Korea
12 Oprah Winfrey Media Mogul, U.S.
13 Virginia Rometty CEO, IBM, U.S.
14 Meg Whitman CEO, HP, U.S.
15 Indra Nooyi CEO, PepsiCo, U.S.

The publication of the list precedes the Forbes Women’s Summit, which will include more than 300 prominent women across multiple generations who are transforming the rules of engagement. The Summit will be held in New York City on June 9-10: http://www.forbesconferences.com/event/2015-forbes-womens-summit/.

For the complete ranking, methodology, videos and more, visit www.forbes.com/power-women.

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Contact: Wendy Furrer Egan, wfurrer-egan@forbes.com or 212-366-8848