Who are the most powerful men in the world?

Who are the most powerful people in the world? It may seem strange, but if you cross-reference the data from various rankings compiled by various authoritative magazines, there isn’t a politician at the top of this special list.

First, it should be clarified that the concept of the most powerful people in the world refers to individuals who exercise exceptional influence on a large scale in fields such as politics, economics, technology, and culture, not to mention military power.

There is no single definition, but rankings like those by Forbes, Time, or Fortune usually evaluate a combination of key factors.

Based on this, by 2025 the most powerful person in the world would be Elon Musk, with the South African tycoon doing better than Chinese President Xi Jinping and American President Donald Trump.

The ranking of the most powerful people in the world

Nowadays, is political power greater—and by extension, military power—or economic power greater, especially when it comes to rapidly expanding sectors like technology and the web?

It’s difficult to answer, but we can get an idea by looking at what the 2025 ranking of the most powerful people in the world would be.

1. Elon Musk: CEO of Tesla, SpaceX, xAI (formerly Twitter). Forbes lists him as the richest man in the world with a net worth of $342 billion, but he has also recently become a prominent figure in politics and may run for office himself in the future.
2. Xi Jinping: President of China, he wields massive political and military power, controls the global economy, the Belt and Road Initiative, and has eliminated term limits, increasing the centralization of power.
3. Donald Trump: It’s surprising not to see the president of the United States, the person considered the most powerful in the world par excellence, in first place. Now that he’s returned to the White House, the tycoon is upending the economy and geopolitical relations, but many believe he’s being manipulated by personal interests and big financiers like Elon Musk.
4. Vladimir Putin: The president of Russia maintains global strategic importance not only for leading a country at war for over three years, but also for his control over national energy resources and influence over Moscow’s allies.
5. Jeff Bezos: The founder of Amazon and Blue Origin is ranked among the top global players for both his dominance in trade and his investments in space.
6. Narendra Modi: The Prime Minister of India leads the world’s largest democracy with investments in technology and defense and growing geopolitical clout.
7. Sundar Pichai: CEO of Alphabet (Google), he leads digital innovation and artificial intelligence with a major global tech influence.
8. Mohammed bin Salman: Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, he is the arbiter of energy markets and promoter of the Vision 2030 reform, with a crucial geopolitical role also in the sports sector.
9. Bernard Arnault: CEO of LVMH, he is the world leader in luxury, with a significant impact on the global market.
10. Tim Cook: CEO of Apple, he maintains the company’s leadership in consumer innovation and technology.

As mentioned, Elon Musk would currently be the most influential person in the world, with his economic primacy thus trumping his political one.

After all, just ask yourself this question: would Donald Trump have won the election without Elon Musk’s funding and campaign?

Likewise, it’s fair to ask whether an entrepreneur like Jeff Bezos could be more powerful than Narendra Modi, president of a country with over 1.4 billion citizens.

These questions are very much like charades, given that one could argue for hours—if not days—about who is more powerful: someone who can drop a nuclear bomb or someone who, perhaps with a simple social media post, can change opinions or dictate trends for millions of people.

Original article published on Money.it Italy. Original title: Chi sono gli uomini più potenti al mondo