Ten MOST Powerful People On Earth

 

Which tech guru has the most global influence?

 What nation’s leader commands the most resources?

 Find out as we look at the Ten Most Powerful People On Earth.

 #10 Larry Page

 At only 45 years of age, you would have to accomplish a lot to be mentioned among the most powerful people on Earth.

 And Larry Page has done just that at the head of Alphabet Incorporated, a conglomerate with subsidiary businesses such as Google and various, smaller technology companies.

 Having first co-founded Google in 1998 with partner Sergey Brin, the pair of Stanford graduates first developed their discovery while pursuing their Ph.D. in college.

 What began as an experimental feature introduced via the Stanford University website suddenly took on a life of its own to become the world-changing search engine of the future.

 Today, Larry Page is worth an estimated 48.1 billion dollars and Alphabet Inc. is worth approximately 739 billion dollars!

 And with that much money, he’s gone on to purchase luxurious estates, unique properties for Google, a private airport and planes, and a masterful yacht.

 But perhaps his grandest buy is that of a private island in the Caribbean, where he said to be retreating to more often since fading out of the public spotlight.

 #9 Narendra Modi

 The Prime Minister of India is in charge of the second most populated country on Earth with 1.3 billion people falling under his responsibility.

 Despite the sheer size of this monumental task, Narendra Modi seems to be rising to the occasion with approval rates floating around 50% overall and reaching up to 64% in some regions.

 And given the population size, that’s a whole lot of hearts and minds to win over.

 Keeping his nation’s best interests in mind, Modi has taken steps to better India in recent years by eliminating large banknotes to help cut down on money laundering and leading the charge on dealing with climate change to help rural citizens feeling the effects.

 Not settled with domestic advancements, Modi has also helped further international diplomacy efforts, recently visiting with high-profile world leaders such as Donald Trump and Xi Jinping.

 Under Modi’s lead, India and its billion person population seem to have a future brighter than ever before.

 #8 Mohammed bin Salman As the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, few men have more control at their fingertips than Mohammed bin Salman Abdulaziz Al Saud.

 In addition to being legitimate Saudi Arabian royalty, Prince Mohammed bin Salman also serves as the nation’s deputy prime minister, minister of defense, and chairman on the councils for Economic & Developmental Affairs and council of Political & Security Affairs.

 The Prince is considered to be the true power behind the throne as his father King Salman struggles with Alzheimer’s disease.

 Mohammad bin Salman only rose to this position recently in June of 2017 and has since made his name internationally as the new face of Saudi Arabia.

 Since being appointed as Crown Prince, he has led the front on a number of somewhat progressive social reforms.

 These include issues like improving women’s rights in Saudi Arabia through acts like removing an archaic ban on female drivers, the establishment of the first sports stadium to allow women and the first female-singer-led concert.

 This push for reform along with other efforts from the country to draw further international investment from non-oil industries all fall into Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 program.

 The Prince and his nation will undoubtedly influence the whole of the middle east and its future in coming years.

 #7 Bill Gates

 When the everyday person needs to reference a wealthy, intelligent, and successful individual, few names come to mind faster than Bill Gates.

 Co-founder of computer juggernaut Microsoft, Gates is one of the richest men in the world with an estimated net worth of 96 billion dollars.

 Computers have undoubtedly morphed the world into a whole new society from Microsoft’s initial launch in 1975 but Gates has taken on a new medium for world influence in recent years: philanthropy!

 Together with his wife Melinda, he chairs the world’s largest private charity in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

 The couple launched their charity foundation in 2000 and to date Gates has donated more than 35 billion dollars worth of Microsoft stock.

 That money, along with all other donations to the foundation, go toward improving global health standards by investing in agricultural development, financial assistance, hygiene, sanitation, and scholarships in countries around the world.

 In addition to the work being done from the Gates Foundation, the billionaire continues to serve on the board of directors at Microsoft and owns just barely more than 1 percent of shares in the company.

 Bill Gates also looks to lead the charge on alternative fuel sources as he announced in 2016 the launch of his one billion dollar Breakthrough Energy investment fund, created with 20 other investors.

 So as the brilliant philanthropist and tech genius may have moved beyond the computer screen, he continues to make his mark on the world with each new venture he funds.

 #6 Pope Francis

 The official leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, has been shaking things up since being elected to the papacy.

 As the first non-European pope in a millenia, first Jesuit pope, first Latin American pope, and first pope from the American continents ever, simply being voted into service was a ground-breaking accomplishment.

 But since 2013, the Argentinian Pope has kept the ball rolling with his progressive policy pushes within the church.

 Pope Francis has made issues like refugee treatment, climate change reform, and the persecution of religious minorities a major focus of the Catholic Church in the 21st century.

 In 2016, he granted the power to forgive abortions to Catholic priests as another hopeful step to bring the church into the modern era and away from its classically conservative image.

 While his popularity has fallen slightly in 2018, he’s still been one of the most popular popes in recent history obtaining approval ratings as high as 84% during his reign.

 #5 Jeff Bezos

 As the founder of a company, it’s hard to think you might one day be ranked among world leaders.

 But in the case of global e-commerce phenomenon Amazon and their founder Jeff Bezos, it makes all the sense in the world.

 The chief executive and founder of the extremely popular online shopping service has launched his net worth into orbit as it now stands at approximately 160 billion dollars!

 Eclipsing that still is the value of the company itself which has hit a market value of more than one trillion dollars as of September 2018.

 His stake in the company comes out to about 16 percent and is only one of his many assets.

 In addition to Amazon, Bezos owns the Washington Post, which he purchased for 250 million dollars in 2013, and also picked up flourishing grocery chain Whole Foods in 2017 for 13.6 billion dollars!

 These are only a few of the mogul’s most notable acquisitions though as across the years the Amazon empire has continued to expand thanks to companies like Audible, Zappos, and, competitor to Elon Musk’s SpaceX program, aerospace company Blue Origin.

 As Bezos continues to ascend to the top of the wealth spectrum, earning more money than most countries, it would only be natural to see him move up this list as well.

 #4 Angela Merkel

 Commanding the powerful market of Germany and coming off the cusp of a close election campaign is Chancellor Angela Merkel.

 In addition to governing the economically growing Germany, Merkel also commands the domestic political party of the Christian Democratic Union and is considered by many to be the prominent head of the European Union as well.

 Some even go so far as to consider her to be not only the most powerful woman in the world, but the current leader of the Free World as well.

 After many tumultuous events in Europe the last few years, the European Union has been especially shaky and members consistently seems to be at odds with one another.

 Yet despite hostilities over immigration disputes and the exit of the United Kingdom from the EU, and even issues threatening the government within her own country, Merkel’s managed to keep it all held together.

 Her excellent speaking skills and diplomatic knowledge have granted her a career of nearly 30 years in politics.

 With all her success though, Merkel appears to have finally neared the end of her reign as she announced in fall of 2018 that she would not seek reelection for either the CDU party at the end of the year or the position of Chancellor in 2021.

 #3 Donald Trump

 It’s no surprise the President of the United States makes this list, but Donald Trump’s placement on this list is even more bolstered by his status as the first billionaire in history to sit in the Oval Office.

 With an approximate net worth of 3.1 billion dollars, Trump has a ton of high-earning assets to his name and they are stretched not only across the U.S., but also across the world.

 From golf courses, hotels and wineries to beauty pageants, perfumes and casinos, Trump-branded products and property carry the notoriety and reach of his name to ends of the Earth.

 But possibly even more far-reaching are his statements.

 Commanding an ever-controversial social media presence, Trump’s 20 million plus followers and their assistance in spreading his messages have been attributed by the president himself as the reason for his election success.

 Combine this communications domination with the fame brought on from his reality television appearances and the man has bonafide celebrity status.

 That instant public recognition combined with his wealth and role as Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. solidify his presence on this list.

 #2 Vladimir Putin

 Filing into second place this year is four-time Forbes-voted world’s most powerful person Vladimir Putin.

 As Russia’s sitting president, Putin has come under attack from Western media in recent years thanks to suspected foreign interference in the 2016 American presidential election.

 This level of suspicion wasn’t unwarranted by any means, however, due in part to the resources at hand for the Russian leader.

 Buoyed by the countries massive oil and natural gas reserves, Russia maintains great influence over the rest of Europe thanks to their dependence.

 Yet, fossil fuel isn’t a permanent answer to the nation’s rollercoaster economy which seems to have bounced back from recent years.

 Luckily the giant landmass of Russia provides other resources such as crops and minerals, and even forest products with one fifth of the world’s forests existing within their borders.

 However, these forests go majorly underutilized and as such the agriculture rather than the forestry industry have taken over as the country’s second highest export.

 Aside from natural resources, Russia also has one of the world’s leading arms industries that only comes in second place to the U.S.

 Electronics, technology, telecommunications, defense, aerospace and automotive industries make up the other top earners in the country, with competitive spirits against the Western world still strong in Russia.

 But vast sanctions from much of the civilized world, along with a declining population, and fluctuating geopolitical risks keep Russia and Putin from taking their place at the top of the world.

 #1 Xi Jinping

 At the top of the list is the leader of the most populated country on Earth, the president of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping.

 On top of the presidency, Jinping runs the country’s only political party in the Communist Party of China and is the chairman of the Central Military Commission.

 Some of his major accomplishments since taking office in 2013 include helping to bring China further into the global discussion by establishing diplomatic talks with nations like Taiwan and Japan, as well as the United Kingdom and United States.

 He’s inspired the people of his nation with his “Chinese Dream” directive formed from a set of national and personal ideals meant to lead China to the forefront of modern society.

 He’s become fairly beloved among his people, with pop songs affectionately referring to him as Xi Dada, and has won over the hearts and minds of his followers.

 And with recent amendments to national laws allowing for no term limits on his presidency, that probably works out for the best as the single, “core” leader of one of the world’s superpowers doesn’t seem to plan on leaving office anytime soon.

 Which of these Powerful People would you like to meet?

 Let us know which one and why in the comments section below!