The World's Twenty-Five Most Powerful People

1. Hu Jintao – President of The People's Republic of China:

• Paramount political leader of more people than anyone else on the planet; exercises near dictatorial control over 1.3 billion people, one-fifth of world's population. Unlike Western counterparts, Hu can divert rivers, build cities, jail dissidents and censor Internet without meddling from pesky bureaucrats, courts. Recently surpassed Japan to become the world's second-largest economy.

2. Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz as Saud - King of Saudi Arabia:

• Absolute ruler of desert kingdom that contains the world's largest crude oil reserves, two holiest sites in Islam. State-owned oil producer Saudi Aramco has reserves of 266 billion barrels, or one-fifth of planet's known supply (worth $22 trillion at today's oil prices). Pushing for gradual social and legal reforms, while maintaining good relations with deeply conservative religious establishment.

3. Vladimir Putin - Prime Minister of Russia:

• Prime Minister still more powerful than his handpicked head-of-state, President Dmitry Medvedev. Former KGB officer will likely replace protégé in 2012. In the meantime, has final say over one-ninth of Earth's land area, vast energy and mineral resources. Declared nuclear power has veto on U.N.'s Security Council. Russian government agency reported to have already registered web address Putin-2012.rf.

4. Angela Merkel – Chancellor of Germany:

• Most powerful woman on the planet. Chancellor of Germany oversees Europe's largest economy. Renowned free-market champion and favorite of big business, boasts nine public companies with annual sales in excess of $70 billion. In all, there are 57 German companies on the Forbes Global 2000 ranking of the world's largest public companies, with aggregate sales of $1.7 trillion.

5. Barack Obama – President of The United States of America:

• Obama's Democrats suffered a mighty blow in U.S. midterm elections, with the president decisively losing support of the House of Representatives, and barely holding onto the Senate. After enacting widespread reforms in his first two years in office will be hard-pressed to implement his agenda in the next two. He can take comfort in successfully orchestrating the successful elimination of Usama bin Laden.

6. Pope Benedict XVI – Head of Roman Catholic Church:

• Highest earthly authority for 1.1 billion souls, or one-sixth of world's population. Staunch traditionalist deplores secularism, consumerism and moral relativism, unbending on birth control, gay marriage and ordination of female priests.

7. Ben Bernanke – Chairman of The United States Federal Reserve:

• Some argue Fed's influence is at all-time high, given size of its burgeoning balance sheet ($2.3 trillion) relative to the underlying economy ($14.3 trillion). But Bernanke's options have waned since peak of the financial crisis. He now has essentially only one arrow left in his financial quiver: quantitative easing--in layman's terms, "printing money."

8. Sonia Gandhi – President Indian National Congress:

• Despite Italian birth, foreign religion (Roman Catholic) and political reluctance, Gandhi wields unequaled influence over 1.2 billion Indians. Recently elected to record fourth term as head of India's ruling Congress Party, cementing status as true heiress to the Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty. Handpicked brainy Sikh economist Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister.

9. Bill Gates – Bill and Malinda Gates Foundation:

• Microsoft mogul, futurist and America's richest person has, with help from billionaire buddy Warren Buffett, convinced nearly 60 of the world's wealthiest to sign his "Giving Pledge," promising to donate the majority of their wealth to charity either during their lifetime or after death. He is no longer the planet's richest person, but that's because he's given away $30 billion to his foundation.

10. Dmitry Medvedev – President of Russia:

• Putin still pulls the puppet strings, but the junior member of Russia's ruling tandem is finally showing signs of independence: He sacked Moscow's powerful mayor, Yuri Luzhkov, in September after he implied Putin was a better president; announced Russia would be building Venezuela's first nuclear power plant with anti-American ranter Hugo Chavez.

11. David Cameron – Prime Minister of United Kingdom

• Youngest British prime minister in 198 years is product of privilege: Eton, Brasenose College, Oxford; is descended (illegitimately) from King William IV. Hailed by some as the second coming of Margaret Thatcher, Cameron shares the Iron Lady's determination to slash government expenditures (defense, higher education), but as the leader of a coalition government he can ill-afford such actions.

12. Zhou Xiaochuan – Governor of Peoples Bank of China:

• All eyes now on governor of China's $3.7 trillion central bank to avert all-out currency war. Zhou, overseer of world's largest foreign-exchange reserves, won't kowtow to mounting Western pressure to revalue China's artificially low currency and change its exchange-rate regime. Reports of a record increase in China's reserves and a near record haul for Chinese exporters last September has increased global currency jitters.

13. Manmohan Singh - Prime Minister India:

• Soft-spoken Oxford-trained economist credited with transforming India's quasi-socialist economy into world's second-fastest growing. Enjoying fruits of free-market policies he implemented as India's finance minister in early 1990s. World Bank forecasts India's GDP surged 7.6% in 2010, will grow another 8% in 2011; not far behind its 9% forecast for China.

14. Steve Jobs – CEO Apple Inc.:

• In March the Apple founder made a surprise appearance at the unveiling of his iPad 2, after taking medical leave in January. Insanely creative Apple chief transforms a multibillion-dollar industry every few years. First, personal computers with Apple II, Macintosh; then film with Pixar; music (iTunes), mobile (iPhone). Now iPad is treated as messiah tablet, savior for publishing industry. Apple still sells computers, but twice as much revenue now comes from music distribution and hand-held devices. Shot past long-time rival Microsoft as world's most valuable tech company in May.

15. Silvio Berlusconi – Prime Minister of Italy

• Another year, another scandal for Italy's Prime Minister. The allegations have incited protests against Berlusconi after years of accusations of 'Bunga Bunga' sex parties, relationships with showgirls and using his power to promote pretty girls to positions within his government. The politician with 9 lives became Italy's prime minister for a third time in 2008 after his predecessor lost a confidence vote and new elections were held. He started out singing on cruise ships. Eventually built fortune through Fininvest, which now has interests in media, life insurance, movie production and soccer team A.C. Milan. Shares of his publicly-traded media company Mediaset have fallen 11% in the past year.

16. Rupert Murdoch – CEO News Corp Inc.:

• Murdoch's Fox News generated $700 million in operating profit in 2010, crushed the competition in ratings and may have put the Republicans over the top in the midterms. The Super Bowl, on Fox, kicked off with Bill O'Reilly interviewing the president and wound up as the most-watched TV broadcast ever. The circulation of the Wall Street Journal, already the biggest U.S. newspaper, keeps expanding while almost every other daily shrinks. Thanks to a close relationship with Apple, News Corp. became the first publisher to sell digital subscriptions on the iPad with the $30 million launch of The Daily in February.

17. Nicolas Sarkozy – President of France:

• While France remains indisputably powerful--declared nuclear power, permanent member of the U.N. security council, ninth largest economy in terms of purchasing power--its diminutive president is struggling. His approval rating, affected by everything from his forced deportation of Gypsies to a series of embarrassments perpetuated by his ex-supermodel wife, Carla Bruni, is now firmly below 30%, the lowest since his he took office.

18. Hillary Clinton – Secretary of State of The United States of America:

• Former first lady and U.S. senator has been careful not to let her international celebrity outshine that of her boss. Two now said to have excellent working relationship, so good that inside-the-beltway gossips whisper her name as a possible replacement for hapless U.S. Vice President Joe Biden in 2012. Despite fashion "sense" that leans towards pantsuits, blinding colors, now America's most popular politician, with favorability rating nine percentage points higher than Obama's.

19. Benjamin Netanyahu – Prime Minister of Israel

• Second-term hawk insists he's committed to permanent Palestinian peace treaty, but prospects for peace diminishing. Between a rock and a hard place: Losing political capital abroad after snubbing Obama's recent call to freeze Jewish settlements. Facing rebellion back home as his right-wing coalition regards any concession on settlements as cause for dismissal. Still, as leader of an undeclared nuclear power, Netanyahu remains the biggest menace to Iran's nuclear ambition

20. Ali Hoseini-Khamenei – Grand Ayatollah of Iran:

• Talk of Iranian President Ahmadinejad misses the point; real power vested in Supreme Leader. Shadowy cleric, former president himself, has ruled Iran with iron fist since 1989. Has final say in all matters church, state, nuclear. Testing Obama's national security resolve. Power waning post-2009 elections, though: Grand Ayatollah backed Ahmadinejad despite claims of widespread voter fraud. Now faces rebellion as Iran's senior clerics become increasingly critical of postelection crackdown, and president.

21. Carlos Slim Helu – Chairman of Telmex:

• The world's richest person for a second year in a row, the Mexican telecom mogul is also the year's biggest gainer, having added $20.5 billion to his fortune and widened the gap between him and no. 2, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, to $18 billion. A 19% rise in the Mexican stock market, a stronger peso, and successful mining and real estate spinoffs from conglomerate Grupo Carso all contributed to the astonishing increase. He also merged his fixed-line telecom company into America Movil, Latin America's largest wireless carrier; the Slim family stake in that holding accounts for 62% of his net worth. He has other holdings in retailer Saks and the New York Times.

22. Michael Bloomberg – Mayor of New York City:

• The country's richest politician continues to juggle leading New York City and his $22.5 billion media empire Bloomberg LP. His eponymous financial news firm is growing: this year it celebrated installing its 300,000th data terminal, and 12% revenue growth is expected. In the middle of his third mayoral term; spent $90 million of his own money mounting that campaign, a record broken by eBay billionaire Meg Whitman in November's midterms. Took heat for hiring fellow media executive Cathie Black to run New York's public school system. Maintains he has no plans to run for President in 2012. Boston-born son of accountant got engineering degree from Johns Hopkins, M.B.A. from Harvard.

23. Timothy Geithner – Secretary of Treasury of The United States of America:

• Bailout decider presided over financial equivalent of Cuban Missile Crisis. Cut projected losses from $700 billion bailout fund to $50 billion; oversaw biggest overhaul of financial rules since Great Depression. Latest headaches: reining in trade imbalances, staving off currency war with Beijing. Recently proposed his G-20 counterparts aim to limit the surplus or deficit on their current accounts to no more than 4% of GDP, irking Germany and China, which have 6.1% and 4.7% surpluses, respectively (compared with a 3.2% deficit for U.S.). Fighting words: "The greatest risk to the world economy today is that the largest economies underachieve on growth."

24. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani – Army Chief of Staff Pakistan:

• Power wrested from Pakistan's fledgling civilian government in aftermath of devastating floods. Quiet army chief now Pakistan's de facto leader. Took lead on flood crisis; controls Pakinstan's powerful intelligence agency; recently demanded President Zardari and Prime Minister Gilani dismiss corrupt members of their bloated 60-member cabinet. Term was extended three years in July.

25. Dalai Lama – Tibet:

• Tibetan exile keeps China honest. Fourteenth Dalai Lama has served longer than Queen Elizabeth, Fidel Castro. Political leader to 150,000 Tibetans in exile, spiritual leader to 23 million Lamaist Buddhists. Despite endorsements by U.N., Hollywood and Nobel Committee, efforts to win "meaningful autonomy" from Beijing have failed.