5/12/23, 4:14 PM The World's 100 Most Powerful Women 2022

2022

The World’s 100

Most Powerful
Women

https://www.forbes.com/lists/power-women/?sh=319e26055a95 1/15
5/12/23, 4:14 PM The World's 100 Most Powerful Women 2022

ILLUSTRATION BY GRACELYNN WAN FOR FORBES; PHOTOS BY MICHELE TANTUSSI/AP; FRAZER

HARRISON/GA/THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER/GETTY IMAGES; ANDREW MEDICHINI/AP;
COURTESY OF GGV CAPITAL

EDITED BY 
MOIRA FORBES AND MAGGIE MCGRATH WITH NICOLETTE JONES AND ERIKA BURHO
DECEMBER 06, 2022, 06:30 AM

V ladimir Putin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine was a

defining moment for Europe. European Commission
president Ursula von der Leyen rose to the challenge. A

https://www.forbes.com/lists/power-women/?sh=319e26055a95 2/15
5/12/23, 4:14 PM The World's 100 Most Powerful Women 2022

week after the war began, she announced three major economic
sanctions against Russia—banning transactions with its central
bank, closing airspace to Russian plane travel and barring
Kremlin-owned news agencies.

“Protecting our liberty comes at a price,” von der Leyen said.

“This is our principle: freedom is priceless.”

For her leadership during the Ukraine war, as well as her handling
of the Covid-19 pandemic, von der Leyen sits atop the 19th annual
Forbes list of the World’s 100 Most Powerful Women. Her
influence is unique—no one else on the list formulates policy on
behalf of 450 million people—but her commitment to a free and
democratic society is not. Von der Leyen is just one face of the
biggest storyline of 2022: women acting as stalwarts for
democracy.

American women suffered the greatest reversal of rights in the two

decades of the list when the Supreme Court limited the right to an
abortion. In reaction, female voters energized U.S. midterm
elections. In Iran, thousands of women marched in the streets in
protest against theocratic laws that treat them as second-class
citizens.

Representing the protesters on this year’s list is Jina “Mahsa”

Amini, whose death in September sparked the unprecedented
women-led revolution. The rest of the women are more traditional
power players—39 CEOs; 10 heads of state; and 11 billionaires
worth a combined $115 billion.
https://www.forbes.com/lists/power-women/?sh=319e26055a95 3/15
5/12/23, 4:14 PM The World's 100 Most Powerful Women 2022

The list was determined by four main metrics: money, media,

impact and spheres of influence. For political leaders, we weighed
gross domestic products and populations; for corporate leaders,
revenues and employee counts; and media mentions and reach of
all. The result is a collection of women who are fighting the status
quo.

“If you don’t react to the first violation of your rights,” says Roya
Boroumand, an Iranian historian and human rights activist, “the
second will come, and the third will come.”

--Maggie McGrath

The Highlights

https://www.forbes.com/lists/power-women/?sh=319e26055a95 4/15
5/12/23, 4:14 PM The World's 100 Most Powerful Women 2022

37 79

Thasunda Brown Taylor Swift

Duckett
TITLE: PRESIDENT AND CEO, TIAA
TITLE: MUSICIAN
LOCATION: UNITED STATES

LOCATION: UNITED STATES Taylor Swift broke records and Ticketmaster’s

website this year. After releasing her 10th studio
In 2021, Thasunda Brown Duckett took the helm album in October, she became the first artist in
of TIAA, a retirement and financial services history to claim the top ten spots on the
company for academic, research, medical and Billboard Hot 100 song list. And in November,
governmental workers. The role makes her one demand for tickets to her 2023 Eras Tour
of just two Black female CEOs leading one of overwhelmed Ticketmaster, prompting
America’s largest 500 companies, and one of members of Congress to question the
the most powerful women in finance. company's hold on concert sales.

VIEW PROFILE VIEW PROFILE

https://www.forbes.com/lists/power-women/?sh=319e26055a95 5/15
5/12/23, 4:14 PM The World's 100 Most Powerful Women 2022

89 94

Falguni Nayar
TITLE: FOUNDER AND CEO, NYKAA
Xiomara
TITLE: PRESIDENT
Castro
LOCATION: INDIA LOCATION: HONDURAS

Falguni Nayar worked as an investment banker Xiomara Castro was sworn in as Honduras'
for two decades, leading IPOs and helping president in January 2022, becoming the first
other entrepreneurs achieve their dreams. In woman to hold the position. Castro
2012, she decided to work for herself, investing campaigned for the presidency on a platform
$2 million of her own savings to launch beauty that included protecting and expanding
and retail company Nykaa. She took it public in women's rights, but nearly one year into her
2021 and became India’s richest self-made tenure, feminist activists are losing hope that
woman. she will deliver on these promises.

VIEW PROFILE VIEW PROFILE

ADVERTISEMENT

https://www.forbes.com/lists/power-women/?sh=319e26055a95 6/15
5/12/23, 4:14 PM The World's 100 Most Powerful Women 2022

The Full List

SEARCH BY NAME FILTER BY CATEGORY

RANK NAME AGE

1. Ursula von der Leyen 64

2. Christine Lagarde 66

3. Kamala Harris 58

4. Mary Barra 60

5. Abigail Johnson 60

6. Melinda French Gates 58

7. Giorgia Meloni 45

8. Karen Lynch 58

9. Julie Sweet 55

10. Jane Fraser 55

11. MacKenzie Scott 52

12. Kristalina Georgieva 69

13. Rosalind Brewer 59

14. Emma Walmsley 53

15. Ana Patricia Botín 62

ADVERTISEMEN

https://www.forbes.com/lists/power-women/?sh=319e26055a95 7/15
5/12/23, 4:14 PM The World's 100 Most Powerful Women 2022

16. Gail Boudreaux 62

17. Tsai Ing-wen 66

18. Ruth Porat 65

19. Safra Catz 60

20. Martina Merz 59

21. Carol Tomé 65

22. Judith McKenna 56

23. Susan Wojcicki 54

24. Oprah Winfrey 68

25. Nancy Pelosi 82

26. Laurene Powell Jobs & family 59

27. Amanda Blanc 55

28. Amy Hood 50

29. Catherine MacGregor 50

30. Phebe Novakovic 65

ADVERTISEMEN

https://www.forbes.com/lists/power-women/?sh=319e26055a95 8/15
5/12/23, 4:14 PM The World's 100 Most Powerful Women 2022

31. Gwynne Shotwell 59

32. Shari Redstone 68

33. Janet Yellen 76

34. Jessica Tan 45

35. Ho Ching 69

36. Nirmala Sitharaman 63

37. Thasunda Brown Duckett 49

38. Kathy Warden 51

39. Marianne Lake, Jennifer Piepszak

40. Jacinda Ardern 42

41. Dana Walden 58

42. Sheikh Hasina Wajed 75

43. Mary Callahan Erdoes 55

44. Adena Friedman 53

45. Gina Rinehart 68

ADVERTISEMEN

https://www.forbes.com/lists/power-women/?sh=319e26055a95 9/15
5/12/23, 4:14 PM The World's 100 Most Powerful Women 2022

46. Lynn Martin 46

47. Sri Mulyani Indrawati 60

48. Vicki Hollub 63

49. Nicke Widyawati 54

50. Lisa Su 53

51. Tricia Griffith 58

52. Shemara Wikramanayake 60

53. Roshni Nadar Malhotra 41

54. Madhabi Puri Buch 56

55. Sinead Gorman 45

56. Tokiko Shimizu 57

57. Yuriko Koike 70

58. Jennifer Salke 58

59. Jenny Johnson 58

60. Hana Al Rostamani

61. Donna Langley 54

62. Dong Mingzhu 68

63. Judy Faulkner 79

https://www.forbes.com/lists/power-women/?sh=319e26055a95 10/15
5/12/23, 4:14 PM The World's 100 Most Powerful Women 2022

64. Robyn Denholm 59

65. Suzanne Scott 56

66. Lynn Good 63

67. Soma Mondal 59

68. Belén Garijo 62

69. Melanie Kreis 51

70. Bela Bajaria 51

71. Paula Santilli

72. Laura Cha

73. Rihanna 34

74. Mette Frederiksen 45

75. Mary Meeker 63

76. Joey Wat 51

77. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw 69

78. Jenny Lee 50

79. Taylor Swift 32

80. Beyoncé Knowles 41

81. Güler Sabanci 67

82. Linda Thomas-Greenfield 70

83. Sanna Marin 37

https://www.forbes.com/lists/power-women/?sh=319e26055a95 11/15
5/12/23, 4:14 PM The World's 100 Most Powerful Women 2022

84. Solina Chau 60

85. Lee Boo-jin 52

86. Reese Witherspoon 46

87. Zuzana Caputova 49

88. Dominique Senequier 69

89. Falguni Nayar 59

90. Julia Gillard 61

91. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala 68

92. Raja Easa Al Gurg

93. Shonda Rhimes 52

94. Xiomara Castro 63

95. Samia Suluhu Hassan 62

96. Dolly Parton 76

97. Kirsten Green 51

98. Mia Mottley 57

99. Mo Abudu 58

100. Mahsa Amini (posthumous)

ADVERTISEMENT

https://www.forbes.com/lists/power-women/?sh=319e26055a95 12/15