Forbes annually publishes a ranking of the most influential women in the world. In 2017, the list included women who achieved success thanks to colossal work and tremendous perseverance. Be sure that after reading this article, you will seriously think about whether the weak 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 took 52 and 49 lines, respectively.
10. Virginia 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 Rometti became the first female IBM CEO. It is worth noting that until this moment only men held this post. Today, Rometti is one of the most successful top managers in the world.
9. Ana Patricia Botin
Ana Botin is the most influential woman in Spain. As a fifth-generation banker, she devoted almost 25 years to banking. On her account, the expansion of the group of commercial banks in Latin America, numerous acquisitions, as well as the reform of investment programs. Ana Patricia Botin is the Director of the Spanish company Banesto, as well as the main Executive and International Committees.
8. Christine Lagarde
The professional path of Christine Lagarde is very multi-stage. Throughout her life, she has changed about a dozen posts, 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 the Popular Movement. The main achievement, which determined the place of Lagarde on the Forbes list, is that she became the first woman in the post of Minister of Finance of the G8, and now also the head of the IMF.
7. Abigail Johnson
Since 2006, Abigail Johnson has consistently ranked the top ranking of the most influential and successful women, according to Forbes magazine. To achieve this, her father Edward Johnson, the CEO of Fidelity Investments, helped a lot. His daughter is her vice president, and is also considered the only heiress to this family business. According to rough estimates, the fortune of Abigail Johnson is estimated at 13 billion dollars.
6. Susan Wojcicki
"There is nothing impossible in this world." That is how the credo of this strong and successful woman sounds. For a long time, Wojiski was vice president of advertising at Google. And then, when the rival company You Tube appeared “on the horizon,” Susan decided to buy it out rather than fight it. So "YouTube" and got a new boss.
5. Mary Barra
Mary Barra is the first woman to become CEO of the largest automotive 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 the 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.
4. Cheryl Sandberg
Cheryl Sandberg is one of those reputable women who are said to have "made herself." She was a simple student from an ordinary average family. Today, Cheryl is vice president of sales and operations at Google. In addition, she is an ardent fighter for women's rights.
3. Melinda 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, in a huge mansion worth several billion dollars.
2. Teresa May
The new Prime Minister of Great Britain, succeeding Cameron, Teresa May from the very first days in a new position showed everyone her vision of conservatism. It was not just that she was assigned the status of a “lead lady”, which was fully justified by her policy - flexible, but very tough.
1. Angela Merkel
According to Forbes, Merkel is the most influential female politician in the last three years. Throughout her tenure as Chancellor of Germany, she has done 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 areas of society: in politics, economics, and entrepreneurship. The very fact that a woman has equal rights with a man and her opinions and decisions with the same measure of seriousness are taken into account, speaks of a big step on the way to a civilized liberal society.
