Top 15 most powerful people listed in Forbes

From 2009 onwards, Forbes magazine has been compiling a list of world's most powerful people every year. This year many new faces have made entry into the list. One of the most prominent faces includes Prime Minister Narendra Modi. After a landslide victory in the General elections, Narendra Modi has consistently been attracting global attention with his uniquely impressive methods of tackling basic social issues of India.From ‘Swach Bharat Abhiyaan' to ‘Make in India' campaign, Modi has compelled the world to turn their eyes towards him. Modi has been ranked 15th in a list of 72 most powerful people.Vladimir Putin tops the list followed by Barack Obama. Angela Merkel, a German politician and a former research scientist ranks 5th. She is one of those few women who could make it to the list.Here is the list of top 15 Most Powerful Personalities of 2014 according to Forbes magazine:1. Vladimir PutinVladimir Putin, Russia's President tops the list.In December 1999, Boris Yeltsin resigned as president of Russia and appointed Putin acting president until official elections were held (in early 2000).Putin was re-elected to the presidency in 2004. In April 2005, he made a historic visit to Israel for talks with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon—marking the first visit to Israel by any Kremlin leader.Due to ceiling on terms, Putin could not run for the presidency again in 2008. (That same year, presidential terms in Russia were extended from four to six years.)When his protégé Dmitry Medvedev succeeded him as president in March 2008, Putin secured the post of Russia's prime minister, continuing his position among the top Russian leadership after eight years at the helm.On March 4, 2012, Vladimir Putin was re-elected to the presidency, and he was inaugurated to his third term as Russia's president on May 7, 2012.He was married to Lyudmila in 1983. The couple had two daughters - Maria, born in 1985, and Yekaterina, born in 1986. But the couple parted ways last year. Their divorce was out of mutual agreement as his wife felt that Putin was a busy man and had no time for her.2. Barack ObamaHeading into the second half of his second term as the President of the world's most powerful economy – The USA, Barack Obama ranks 2nd.With a father from Kenya and a mother from Kansas, President Obama was born in Hawaii on August 4, 1961. He was raised with help from his grandfather, who served in Patton's army, and his grandmother, who worked her way up from the secretarial pool to middle management at a bank.After working his way through college with the help of scholarships and student loans, President Obama moved to Chicago, where he worked with a group of churches to help rebuild communities devastated by the closure of local steel plants.He went on to attend law school, where he became the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review. Upon graduation, he returned to Chicago to help lead a voter registration drive, teach constitutional law at the University of Chicago, and remain active in his community.He was elected the 44th President of the United States on November 4, 2008, and sworn in on January 20, 2009. He and his wife, Michelle, are the proud parents of two daughters, Malia and Sasha.3. Xi JinpingXi Jinping is the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, the President of the People's Republic of China.Xi Jinping holds all three offices required to be China's paramount leader, and after two years in office has become what some commentators have called the most powerful Chinese ruler since Mao Zedong. In October, he took the additional title as chief of the world's largest economy, valued at $17.6 trillion. Xi was quick to see the benefits of privatization-friendly reforms and further signs of fresh thinking are everywhere.He has initiated a renewed campaign against corruption, further market economic reforms, governing with greater emphasis on the law and legal institutions, and a comprehensive national renewal under the neologism "Chinese Dream"4. Pope FrancisPope Francis is the reigning pope of the Catholic Church.He was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina on 17 December 1936.The spiritual leader to one-sixth of the world's population. Pope Francis has made it his mission to transform the longstanding conservative image of the Catholic Church. In October, the Pope that said the theories of evolution and the Big Bang are true, adding that God is not "a magician with a magic wand."“Who am I to judge?" he shocked the world last year when he said it while discussing homosexuality. The first Jesuit and Latin American Bishop of Rome preaches compassion for the poor and a greater role for women while signaling the church to quiet its focus on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptives."5. Angela MerkelAngela Merkel is a German politician and a former research scientist, who has been the Chancellor of Germany since 2005 and the leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) since 2000.Merkel, who grew up in East Germany, was elected in 2005 as the first female German chancellor and clinched a third four-year term last December, making her the longest-serving EU head of state.She used her power against ISIS by breaking the post-Nazi-era taboo of direct involvement in military actions by sending arms to Kurdish fighters and to deter Russia's threats to Ukraine and European gas supplies. Germany continues to be the $17.5 trillion EU's fiscal powerhouse, although its economy contracted for the first time in over a year.In 2013 she was ranked as the 2nd most powerful person by Forbes magazine.6. Janet YellenA leading American economist, Janet Yellen served as vice chairman of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors since 2010 until becoming the first woman to become chair of the board in 2014.Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1946, Janet Yellen earned a bachelor's degree from Brown University in 1967. She then went to Yale University, where she received her Ph.D. in 1971. After teaching at Harvard University, Yellen worked at the Federal Reserve from 1977 to 1978, and then became a professor at the University of California, Berkeley.From 1997 to 1999, she served on the White House Council of Economic Advisers, and in 2004, she became president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. In 2010, Yellen was selected to serve as vice chair of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. President Barack Obama nominated her to become the board's chairman in October 2013.7. Bill GatesEntrepreneur Bill Gates founded the world's largest software business, Microsoft, with Paul Allen, and subsequently became one of the richest men in the world. He was born on October 28, 1955, in Seattle, Washington.America's richest man, Bill Gates, is using his billions to effect major social change around the globe. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has given away $30 billion since 2000, a fortune that on its own would be one of the 20 largest in America. The foundation is working to eliminate polio in the three countries where it still exists and is committed to stamping out malaria wherever possible.In September the Gates Foundation pledged $50 million to fight Ebola in West Africa; Bill Gates then announced in early November that his foundation would spend $500 million to fight malaria and a host of neglected diseases.In the U.S., the most generous philanthropist in history is working to improve education, in part by paying college fees for talented students through a $1.37 billion grant administered by the United Negro College Fund.8. Mario DraghiMario Draghi is an Italian banker and economist who succeeded Jean-Claude Trichet as the President of the European Central Bank on 1 November 2011. He was previously the governor of the Bank of Italy from January 2006 until October 2011. In 2014 Forbes nominated Draghi 8th most powerful person in the world.He was born in Rome, where he studied at the Massimiliano Massimo Institute and graduated from La Sapienza University under the supervision of Federico Caffè. Then he earned a PhD in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1976.As the president of the European Central Bank Draghi is responsible for maintaining financial unity across 18 countries. Nicknamed "Super Mario," he has held his role at the ECB since 2011.9. Sergey BrinSergey Brin is one of the creators of Google, the world's most popular search engine, with Larry Page. The two still manage the company and are billionaires.Sergey Brin was born on August 21, 1973, in Moscow, Russia. His family immigrated to the United States to escape Jewish persecution in 1979. He met Larry Page at Stanford University, and the two created a search engine that would sort web pages based on popularity. They named the search engine "Google," based on the mathematical term "googol." Since it's launch in 1998, Google has become the most popular search engine in the world.In March 2013, Brin was ranked No. 21 on Forbes' 2013 "Billionaires" list.9. Larry PageInternet entrepreneur and computer scientist Larry Page teamed up with grad school buddy Sergey Brin to launch the search engine Google in 1998.He was born in Michigan in 1973. Larry Page's parents were both computer experts, so it was no surprise that he studied computer engineering at Stanford University. That's where he met Sergey Brin. Together, Page and Brin developed a search engine that listed results according to the popularity of the pages, calling it "Google." Since launching Google in 1998, the company has become the world's most popular search engine, averaging nearly 6 billion searches daily in 2013.Last year he ranked 17 in Forbes most powerful people.10. David CameronDavid Cameron is the current Prime Minister of United Kingdom and leader of Conservative Party. He was born in London, England on October 9, 1966 and today is his 48th birthday.He is best known for being a revolutionary leader of Britain's Conservative Party, a quality that eventually won him the election as Prime Minister in 2010.Cameron replaced Gordon Brown as the Prime Minister in 2010 after the later resigned from the post.David Cameron's political career has seen many ups and down. Cameron is known for his addresses that are full of eloquence and dignity. He is liked and appreciated by most of his party members.The Conservative leader is fond of Twitter - he has 834,000 followers11. Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al SaudAbdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud is the King of Saudi Arabia.In addition to being one of few remaining absolute monarchs, Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud is custodian of Islam's two holiest cities, one of which is in the midst of a transformation.According to a 2001 report, Abdullah "has four wives, seven sons, and 15 daughters". The king has a personal fortune estimated at US$18 billion, making him the third wealthiest head of state in the world. In recent years his health condition has declined significantly and therefore igniting a power struggle over the succession to the throne.12. Warren BuffettKnown as the "Oracle of Omaha," Warren Buffett is an investment guru and one of the richest and most respected businessmen in the world.Buffett was born on August 30,1930, in Omaha, Nebraska. Investing by age 11, Buffett was running a small business at 13. Buffett later started the firm Buffett Partnership in Omaha, with huge success. In 2006, Buffett announced that he would give his entire fortune away to charity (est. $62 bil.), the largest act of charitable giving in United States history.At the age of 84 Warren Buffett is still at the top of his game both professionally and philanthropically. The second-richest American's net worth continues to surge, despite his giving away billions, thanks to the juggernaut performance of Berkshire Hathaway.13. Li KeqiangLi Keqiang is the current Premier of the People's Republic of China and party secretary of the State Council. An economist by training, Li is China's head of government as well as one of the leading figures of Chinese economic policy.He is also vice chairman of the National Security Commission and second ranked member of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee, the de facto highest decision-making body of the country. Li is a major part of the "fifth generation" (Xi-Li Administration) of Communist Party leadership.Li rose through the party ranks through the Communist Youth League. From 1998 to 2004, Li served as the Governor of Henan and the province's Party secretary, and then the Liaoning party secretary, an office that made him first-in-charge in that province.14. Carlos Slim Helu & familyBillionaire Carlos Slim Helú purchased investments following the economic crash of 1982, which later made him one of the wealthiest people in the world.Carlos Slim Helú, one of the wealthiest people in the world, was born on January 28, 1940, in Mexico City to a family of Lebanese Christian immigrants. He became a billionaire after the economic crash of 1982 when he purchased investments at low prices that would later be extremely valuable. In 2000, he founded the Foundation for the Historic Centre of Mexico City to restore and save significant buildings.In the U.S., he owns minority stakes in Saks Fifth Avenue and The New York Times. One of the world's leading philanthropists, he has partnered with the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation as well as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.15. Narendra ModiNarendra Modi has marked his entry into Forbes most powerful men and ranks 15. This is an incredible achievement who hails from a modest background and grew up selling tea to support his family.Narendra Modi, often hailed as a rock star is the incumbent Prime Minister of the world's oldest civilization – India. His achievements include sailing into office in May with a landslide victory, ushering the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) into power after decades of control by the Gandhi dynasty.Once forbidden from entering the US territory, Modi was given a rock-star welcome where he addressed the youth in Madison Square Garden, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), was invited to dinner hosted by Obama and was the guest of honor at a rock concert.