In December 2024, Forbes, an American global media company released the 21st annual ranking of the World’s 100 Most Powerful Women(MPW) list. Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Ministry of Finance, MoF and Ministry of Corporate Affairs(MCA)(ranked at 28th spot) has topped among the 3 Indian women featured on the list.
- She is followed by Roshni Nadar Malhotra, Chairperson of HCL Technologies; and Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Founder and Executive Chairperson of Biocon India Private Limited ranked at 81st and 82nd spot on the list respectively.
- Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission(EC) has topped the list for the 3rd consecutive year, followed by Christine Lagarde, President of European Central Bank (ECB); Georgia Meloni, President of Italy ranked at 2nd and 3rd position respectively.
About Forbes’ 100 MPW 2024:
i.This latest edition of the rankings has represented women on the list into 6 main categories: business, technology, finance, media & entertainment, politics & policy, and philanthropy.
ii.Forbes used 4 main metrics: money, media, impact and spheres of influence, to determine the rank within each category as well as overall rank on the list.
iii.According to the Forbes, these 100 women on the list command a collective USD 33 trillion in economic power and influence over 1 billion people.
Top 5 MPW 2024:
| Rank | Name | Designation | Country | Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ursula von der Leyen | President of EC | Belgium | Politics & Policy |
| 2 | Christine Lagarde | President of ECB | Germany | Politics & Policy |
| 3 | Giorgia Meloni | President of Italy | Italy | Politics & Policy |
| 4 | Claudia Sheinbum Pardo | President of Mexico | Mexico | Politics & Policy |
| 5 | Mary Barra | Chairman and CEO of General Motors (GM) | United States of America (USA) | Business |
List of Indian Women’s in MPW 2024:
| Rank | Name | Designation | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
| 28 | Nirmala Sitharaman | Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs | Politics & Policy |
| 81 | Roshni Nadar Malhotra | Chairperson of HCL Technologies, Noida(Uttar Pradesh, UP) | Technology |
| 82 | Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw | Founder and Executive Chairperson of Biocon India Private Limited , Bengaluru(Karnataka) | Business |
Key Highlights:
i.Claudia Sheibaum Pardo who became the 1st Female President of Mexico (world’s 12th largest economy) in October 2024, has debuted into the top 5 MPW list and was ranked at 4th spot.
ii.Mary Barra who has been serving as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the United States of America (USA)-based General Motors (GM) since 2014, ranked at 5th spot on the list.
- She also led in the ‘business’ category followed by Julie Sweet (rank 7th), who was appointed CEO of the global services company, Accenture in September 2019.
iii.American pop singer Taylor Alison Swift (ranked at 23rd spot, down from 3rd spot in 2023) has topped in the ‘media & entertainment’ category, followed by Oprah Winfrey and Beyonce Knowles ranked at 33rd and 35th spot respectively.
iv.Some of the noted personalities in the ‘technology’ category: Ruth Porat (rank 12th), Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of Google’s parent company Alphabet Inc.; Gwyne Shotwell (rank 25th), Chief Operating Officer (COO) of SpaceX; Lisa Tzwu-Fang Su (rank 26th), CEO and Chair of Advanced Micro Devices Inc.(AMD), a semiconductor design company.
v.Caitlin Clark (22 year old), an American Basketball player who ranked at 100th spot has become the youngest person to be featured on Forbes’ 2024 MPW list.
- In December 2024, she was named as the TIME Magazine’s Athlete of the Year for 2024.
About Indian Women on the list:
Nirmala Sitharaman:
i.Nirmala Sitharaman who was appointed as the Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs in 2019, became the 1st woman in India to hold these portfolios full-time and was reappointed in 2024.
- She projects that India is most likely to become the world’s 3rd largest economy by 2027
ii.She is currently serving as Member of Parliament (MP) in Rajya Sabha (the Upper of the Parliament) from Karnataka constituency.
iii.Before joining politics, she worked at British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) World Service and has also worked as member of the National Commission for Women, India from 2003-05.
Roshni Nadar Malhotra:
i.Roshni Nadar Malhotra is also a trustee of the Shiv Nadar Foundation, which primarily focuses on education.
- She also founded The Habitats Trust in 2018, to conserve natural habitats.
ii.She serves on the board of directors of US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) and is on the global board of directors of The Nature Conservancy (TNC). She is also an independent director on the board of the HDFC Asset Management Company.
iii.She has received several honors and accolades. France’s highest civilian award Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honour) has been conferred on her in 2024.
- She also conferred the Schaffner Award in 2023 and Lewis Institute Community Changemaker Award in 2017.
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw:
i.Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw founded Bengaluru (Karnataka)-based Biocon, a leading biopharmaceutical company in 1978.
- She later expanded Biocon globally, by setting up Asia’s largest insulin factory in Malaysia’s Johar region.
ii.She is Non-Executive Chairperson of Syngene International, she also serves on the board of Pure-Tech Health, USA, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre, USA, Narayana Health and Trent Limited in India
iii.She is the first woman business leader and second person from India to sign the Giving Pledge an initiative of the Gates Foundation
iv.She is the recipient of India’s highest civilian honours, the Padma Shri (1989) and Padma Bhushan (2005).
v.She has many other international accolades to her credit including the Order of Australia, Australia’s Highest Civilian Honour in 2020, the highest French distinction – Knight of the Legion of Honour in 2016 and Othmer Gold Award, US in 2014.
About Forbes:
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)- Mike Federle
Headquarters- New Jersey, the United States of America (USA)
Established- 1917
