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The World's 50 Greatest Leaders

Some were already extraordinary achievers in business, government, philanthropy, athletics, and the arts. Others were ordinary citizens. In truly unprecedented times, each stepped up to make the world better, and inspired others to do the same. Read more about our eighth annual list here.
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2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015

  1. 1 Jacinda Ardern
    Jacinda Ardern
  2. 2 mRNA Pioneers
    mRNA Pioneers
  3. 3 Dan Schulman
    Dan Schulman
  4. 4 Dr. John Nkengasong
    Dr. John Nkengasong
  5. 5 NBA Rescuers
    NBA Rescuers
  6. 6 Jessica Tan
    Jessica Tan
  7. 7 Justin Welby
    Justin Welby
  8. 8 Stacey Abrams
    Stacey Abrams
  9. 9 Reshorna Fitzpatrick
    Reshorna Fitzpatrick
  10. 10 Adar Poonawalla
    Adar Poonawalla
  11. 11 Dolly Parton
    Dolly Parton
  12. 12 Mike Sommers and Vicki Hollub
    Mike Sommers and Vicki Hollub
  13. 13 Anthony Tan and Hooi Ling Tan
    Anthony Tan and Hooi Ling Tan
  14. 14 Dr. Seth Berkley
    Dr. Seth Berkley
  15. 15 Dr. Aparna Hegde
    Dr. Aparna Hegde
  16. 16 Willie Ray Fairley
    Willie Ray Fairley
  17. 17 Nury Turkel
    Nury Turkel
  18. 18 Kate Bingham
    Kate Bingham
  19. 19 MacKenzie Scott
    MacKenzie Scott
  20. 20 Francis X. Suarez
    Francis X. Suarez
  21. 21 Xie Zhenhua
    Xie Zhenhua
  22. 22 Tom Brady
    Tom Brady
  23. 23 Dr. Ala Stanford
    Dr. Ala Stanford
  24. 24 Timnit Gebru
    Timnit Gebru
  25. 25 Tim Scott
    Tim Scott
  26. 26 C. C. Wei
    C. C. Wei
  27. 27 Craig Jelinek
    Craig Jelinek
  28. 28 Sara Blazevic and Varshini Prakash
    Sara Blazevic and Varshini Prakash
  29. 29 Diana Berrent
    Diana Berrent
  30. 30 Dr. Ching-Hon Pui
    Dr. Ching-Hon Pui
  31. 31 Malala Yousafzai
    Malala Yousafzai
  32. 32 Adena Friedman
    Adena Friedman
  33. 33 Michael Regan
    Michael Regan
  34. 34 C. Nicole Mason
    C. Nicole Mason
  35. 35 Reginald Dwayne Betts
    Reginald Dwayne Betts
  36. 36 Kenneth Chenault
    Kenneth Chenault
  37. 37 Megan Rapinoe
    Megan Rapinoe
  38. 38 Eugene Goodman
    Eugene Goodman
  39. 39 Ben and Erin Napier
    Ben and Erin Napier
  40. 40 Fawzia Koofi
    Fawzia Koofi
  41. 41 Nathália Rodrigues
    Nathália Rodrigues
  42. 42 Guy Fieri
    Guy Fieri
  43. 43 Aurora James
    Aurora James
  44. 44 Timothy Renick
    Timothy Renick
  45. 45 Epidemiologists of Social Media
    Epidemiologists of Social Media
  46. 46 Naomi Osaka
    Naomi Osaka
  47. 47 Cătălin Tolontan
    Cătălin Tolontan
  48. 48 Strive Masiyiwa
    Strive Masiyiwa
  49. 49 Demis Hassabis
    Demis Hassabis
  50. 50 Ashish Jha
    Ashish Jha
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