Since 2004, Forbes Magazine and editor Mary Ellen Egan have been compiling a list of the “World’s Most Powerful Women” based on money, influence, and viability. Activists, world leaders, celebrities, and CEOs, make up a large part of the list that highlights women who go beyond the traditional taxonomy of the power elite (political and economic might). Agents of change, these women are actually shifting our very idea of clout and authority and, in the process, transforming the world in fresh and exhilarating ways.
Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany, was not surprisingly once again picked to head the list. In seven of the last eight years, the Chancellor has held this position. The lone exception came in 2010 when she fell to fourth after being supplanted by Michelle Obama, Irene Rosenfeld, and Oprah Winfrey.
Following the success of her book, Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) was chosen for the sixth position on this list. No news source has yet to report whether Ms. Sandberg heard the news at work and broke into tears, something the COO has said, much to the chagrin of many feminists, is perfectly fine to do in the workplace.
Her placement this high by Forbes was explained as…..
Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)’s COO incited a new conversation on feminism in the workplace with her March 2013 book, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead. The manifesto sold nearly 150,000 copies in its first week, and it has held the top nonfiction spot on best-seller lists since. But Sandberg’s biggest success of the year may have happened right in Menlo Park. After adding ads to its mobile News Feed, Facebook earned more U.S. mobile revenue than any other publisher in 2012, with an 18.4 percent share of the entire market. The April release of Home, the new Facebook phone, will reportedly allow companies to send advertising directly to users’ smartphones even if the home screen is locked. 2013 spotlight: One year after Facebook’s initial public offering, the company’s stock is down roughly 30 percent.
Other technology sector representatives in the top 50 included Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Co-Chair Melinda Gates (No. 3), Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) CEO Meg Whitman (No. 15), Oracle Chief Financial Officer Safra Catz (No. 23), Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) Senior Vice President Susan Wojcicki (No. 30), and Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) CEO Marissa Mayer (No. 32).
Presumably for many, Melinda Gates has no business in the technology breakdown of the list, Ms. Sandberg is far too high, and Marissa Mayer’s 1.1 billion dollar acquisition of Tumblr will see her off the list next year.
