SEATTLE – Former Microsoft Chairman and philanthropist Bill Gates is the 10th most powerful person in the world, according to a first-ever list by Forbes Magazine.
No. 1 on the list is Pres. Barack Obama, followed by Chinese president Hu Jintao and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
Gates, along with his wife Melinda, is co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a philanthropic organization. In 2005, Bill and Melinda, and U2 lead singer Bono, were named Time Magazine's Persons of the Year.
Forbes used four criteria for coming up with its list: the number of people one influences; one's ability to project power beyond one's immediate sphere of influence; control of or access to significant financial resources; and how actively one wields power.
The complete list:
1. Pres. Barack Obama
2. Pres. Hu Jintao (China)
3. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (Russia)
4. Ben Bernanke, U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman
5. Sergey Brin & Larry Page, Founders of Google
6. Carlos Slim Helu, Telmex CEO
7. Rupert Murdoch, Chairman of News Corp.
8. Michael T. Duke, Wal-Mart CEO
9. King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al Saud, Saudi Arabia
10. Bill Gates, Co-chairman, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
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