"These men and women are transforming the world and inspiring others to do the same."
Fortune released its third annual World's Greatest Leaders list on March 24 and topping the list is Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.
According to Fortune, the world is full of people you've never heard of who are rallying followers to make life better. The leaders are chosen on the basis of how they inspire others to act. None of the US presidential aspirants have made it to the list.
"In business, government, philanthropy and the arts, and all over the globe, these men and women are transforming the world and inspiring others to do the same," said Fortune.
Here are the top 5 leaders of the world:
1. Jeff Bezos
Source: Flickr
CEO of e-commerce portal Amazon, Jeffrey Preston 'Jeff' Bezos is the world's number 1 leader. It is under him that Amazon.com has become the largest retailer on the World Wide Web and a model for Internet sales.
According to Fortune, Bezos is becoming a power beyond Amazon and it is because of him that his company is being driven to all-consuming growth.
Amazon is expanding internationally and spreading its hydra-headed product and service offerings in unexpected new directions. With various new projects, Bezos is becoming to be known as a visionary on topics beyond dreaming up new ways to gut the profit margins of Amazon’s many foes, according to Fortune.
2. Angela Merkel
Source: Getty Images
Angela Dorothea Merkel, German politician and former research scientist is the second greatest leader in the world.
This lady has dominated Europe's politics for a decade now and is the only Continental leader whose term in office predates the 2008 financial crisis. Last year, after a decade of hard-nosed and cautious pragmatism, she became a conviction politician. She went beyond politics and welcomes more than 1 million migrants and refugees to Germany.
It was an action that sealed her legacy as a great leader, but it may be the beginning of the end of her power, as per Fortune reports. Merkel is facing a virulent anti-foreigner backlash at home and a “Schengen crisis” in the neighborhood as other European Union members hastily re-erect the national borders that were lowered by earlier, landmark union agreements. The EU in March offered billions of euros to Turkey to stop the flow of migrants.
3. Aung San Suu Kyi
Source: Getty Images
Burmese politician and president of Myanmar's National League of Democracy party, Aung San Suu Kyi is declared as the third greatest leader of the world by Fortune.
Suu Kyi, the daughter of one of the founding heroes of the country’s post–World War II independence movement, returned to Myanmar from exile in 1988 to oppose the junta that had taken power in the early 1960s. She co-founded the National League for Democracy and steadfastly renounced violence, even as the military subjected her to house arrest for nearly 20 years. Her personal sacrifice gradually rallied global opinion around her cause, the more so after she won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1991.
According to Fortune, Myanmar’s challenges include a struggling economy and violent conflict among its ethnic groups. But Suu Kyi has already demonstrated that her authenticity as a leader, her willingness to live the right message at any cost can be a tremendous force for good.
4. Pope Francis
Source: Getty Images
Pope Francis who is the fourth greatest leader of the world is among the three leaders alongside Jeff Bezos and Tim Cook who make it to the Fortune's list every year.
This past year has been the year of Pope Francis the diplomat. The first Latin American pope played a key role in brokering a deal between the US and Cuba, writing letters to both presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro encouraging the two nations to find common ground and it did make a lot of difference as Obama visited Cuba recently.
For the first time ever, Francis traveled to the US, to deliver his message of social justice in the world’s most powerful country.
Pope debuted in photo-sharing platform, Instagram and gained 1 million followers in just 24 hours.
Pope continues to thread a tight needle, making the church more welcoming to LGBT worshippers and divorced Catholics while assuring traditionalists that he isn’t changing doctrine.
5. Tim Cook
Source: Reuters
Timothy Donald 'Tim' Cook, CEO of Apple Inc is the fifth greatest leader of the world. Cook joined Apple in March 1998 and is now the head of the company succeeding Steve Jobs.
Cook is lately been in news for Apple's encryption case where a court ordered Apple to create a backdoor for an iPhone used by a suspect in the San Bernardino terrorist attack. Cook called FBI's demand chilling and asked Apple customers to back off.
While operational tech exectivess have lined up behind Cook, it’s Apple that is facing the FBI in the showdown. Cook has put Apple’s popularity at stake in defense of principle, according to Fortune.
Get the full list here.
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