The Boston Report · World affairs
The presidents, CEOs, central bankers, scientists and stars shaping 2026, drawn from TIME, Forbes, Fortune, IMF and SIPRI data.
Last updated Oct. 26, 2026
By Peter Klausz · World affairs · Last updated Oct. 26, 2026
Who are the most influential people in the world in 2026? This guide answers with 56 entries in six categories, from presidents and central bankers to chipmakers, scientists and athletes. Rather than invent our own ranking, we built it from published lists and hard numbers: TIME’s 2026 TIME100, Forbes’ and Fortune’s power lists, Forbes’ live billionaires ranking, IMF economic data and SIPRI military spending data. Each entry shows which of those sources includes the person.
Last updated Oct. 26, 2026. Roles were checked against official or major news sources this week. Recent changes reflected here: Kevin Warsh became Federal Reserve chairman in May 2026, Andy Burnham became U.K. prime minister in July 2026, and John Ternus became Apple’s CEO in September 2026. The U.N. secretary-general race is still open.
How we chose: our methodology
Influence cannot be measured with one number. TIME’s editors say so themselves: in his 2026 letter, editor-in-chief Sam Jacobs wrote that “there is no single metric that defines influence.” So we used several independent yardsticks and included a person if they met at least one of these tests:
- TIME100 2026, published April 15, 2026, which TIME’s editors choose in six groups: Icons, Artists, Pioneers, Titans, Leaders and Innovators.
- Forbes’ World’s 100 Most Powerful Women (latest edition), which scores women on money, media presence, impact and sphere of influence, and Fortune’s 2026 Most Powerful Women list for business leaders.
- Forbes Real-Time Billionaires, as of Oct. 26, 2026.
- Size of country: leaders of the five largest economies in the IMF’s October 2026 World Economic Outlook data, of the 10 largest military spenders in SIPRI’s 2025 figures, and of other G20 members.
- Size of company: chief executives of the 15 most valuable listed companies by market capitalization in October 2026.
- Global institutions: heads of the U.N., IMF, World Bank, WHO, IAEA, IEA, the European Commission, the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank.
The list is grouped by category and is not ranked. Being included is not an endorsement. The descriptions stick to roles, numbers and published facts. Where two people were honored together on a list, they share one entry.
How influence is measured
There is no official scorecard for influence, so publishers use different yardsticks, and their lists rarely match:
- Editorial judgment. TIME’s editors choose the TIME100 and do not rank it in order. The 2026 list was published April 15, 2026, in six groups: Icons, Artists, Pioneers, Titans, Leaders and Innovators.
- Scored formulas. Forbes ranks its World’s 100 Most Powerful Women using four measures: money, media presence, impact and sphere of influence. Fortune’s Most Powerful Women list covers business leaders.
- Wealth. Forbes’ real-time billionaires list updates estimated net worth as share prices move, so rankings can change within a day.
- Size of what a person controls. Country rankings use IMF economic data and SIPRI military-spending data; company rankings use stock-market value.
Each card on this page shows which of these measures includes that person, so readers can weigh the evidence themselves.
World leaders and global institutions (20)
Donald Trump
President of the United States
🇺🇸 US
Trump took office as the 47th U.S. president on Jan. 20, 2025. The United States is the world's largest economy in IMF data and spent $954 billion on its military in 2025, the most of any country, according to SIPRI.
Xi Jinping
General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and President of China
🇨🇳 China
Xi leads the world's second-largest economy by IMF measures. SIPRI estimates China's 2025 military spending at $336 billion, its 31st straight annual increase.
Vladimir Putin
President of Russia
🇷🇺 Russia
Russia spent an estimated $190 billion on its military in 2025, the world's third-highest total and 7.5% of its GDP, according to SIPRI, in the fourth year of the war in Ukraine.
Narendra Modi
Prime Minister of India
🇮🇳 India
Modi has led India, the world's most populous country, since 2014. India is one of the five largest economies in IMF data and was the fifth-largest military spender in 2025 at $92.1 billion.
Sanae Takaichi
Prime Minister of Japan
🇯🇵 Japan
Takaichi became Japan's first woman prime minister in October 2025. Japan raised military spending 9.7% to $62.2 billion in 2025, its highest share of GDP since 1958, per SIPRI.
Friedrich Merz
Chancellor of Germany
🇩🇪 Germany
Merz leads Europe's largest economy. Germany was the top military spender among European NATO members in 2025, with spending up 24% to $114 billion, according to SIPRI.
Andy Burnham
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
🇬🇧 UK
Burnham became prime minister on July 20, 2026, after winning the Labour Party leadership on July 16, according to GOV.UK. The UK takes the G20 presidency in 2027.
Emmanuel Macron
President of France
🇫🇷 France
Macron leads a nuclear-armed country that holds a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council. France spent $68.0 billion on its military in 2025, per SIPRI.
Mohammed bin Salman
Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia was the world's eighth-largest military spender in 2025 at $83.2 billion, according to SIPRI.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
President of Ukraine
🇺🇦 Ukraine
Ukraine raised military spending 20% to $84.1 billion in 2025, about 40% of its GDP and the world's seventh-largest total, according to SIPRI.
Giorgia Meloni
Prime Minister of Italy
🇮🇹 Italy
Meloni became Italy's first woman prime minister on Oct. 22, 2022. Forbes ranks her fourth on its list of the world's most powerful women.
Claudia Sheinbaum
President of Mexico
🇲🇽 Mexico
Sheinbaum won Mexico's June 2024 election to become the country's first woman president. She appears on both the TIME100 2026 and Forbes power women lists.
Mark Carney
Prime Minister of Canada
🇨🇦 Canada
Carney, a former governor of both the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, leads a G7 economy and was named to the TIME100 2026 Leaders list.
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
President of Brazil
🇧🇷 Brazil
Lula leads Latin America's most populous country, which hosted the COP30 U.N. climate conference in Belém in November 2025.
Benjamin Netanyahu
Prime Minister of Israel
🇮🇱 Israel
Netanyahu is Israel's longest-serving prime minister. SIPRI puts Israel's 2025 military spending at $48.3 billion, 97% higher than in 2022.
Mette Frederiksen
Prime Minister of Denmark
🇩🇰 Denmark
Frederiksen has led Denmark since 2019 and was named to the TIME100 2026 Leaders list.
Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah
President of Namibia
🇳🇦 Namibia
Nandi-Ndaitwah took office in March 2025 as Namibia's first woman president and was named to the TIME100 2026 list.
Ursula von der Leyen
President of the European Commission
🇪🇺🇩🇪 EU / Germany
Von der Leyen runs the executive branch of the 27-nation European Union and is ranked No. 1 on Forbes' list of the world's most powerful women.
António Guterres
Secretary-General of the United Nations
🇵🇹 Portugal
Guterres leads the 193-member U.N. until his term ends Dec. 31, 2026. The Security Council is holding straw polls to pick his successor.
Rafael Mariano Grossi
Director General, International Atomic Energy Agency
🇦🇷 Argentina
Grossi's agency inspects nuclear programs worldwide. He was named to the TIME100 2026 list and is a candidate to be the next U.N. secretary-general.
Finance and central banks (8)
Kevin Warsh
Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve
🇺🇸 US
Warsh took office as Fed chairman on May 22, 2026, for a term ending May 21, 2030. He leads the Federal Open Market Committee, which sets U.S. interest rates.
Christine Lagarde
President of the European Central Bank
🇫🇷 France
Lagarde has led the ECB, which sets monetary policy for the euro area, since Nov. 1, 2019. Forbes ranks her second among the world's most powerful women.
Kristalina Georgieva
Managing Director, International Monetary Fund
🇧🇬 Bulgaria
Georgieva leads the IMF, which lends to member countries in financial trouble and publishes the World Economic Outlook used across this page.
Ajay Banga
President, World Bank Group
🇺🇸🇮🇳 US / India
Banga heads the World Bank Group, the largest multilateral lender for development projects, and addressed its 2026 Annual Meetings in Bangkok on Oct. 16.
Fatih Birol
Executive Director, International Energy Agency
🇹🇷 Türkiye
Birol leads the IEA, whose energy market data and forecasts are used by governments worldwide. He was named to the TIME100 2026 list.
Jane Fraser
Chair and CEO, Citigroup
🇺🇸 US
Fraser became the first woman to run a major Wall Street bank when she took over Citi in March 2021. She ranks first on Fortune's 2026 Most Powerful Women in business list.
Abigail Johnson
Chairman and CEO, Fidelity Investments
🇺🇸 US
Johnson runs Boston-based Fidelity, one of the world's largest asset managers. Forbes ranks her ninth among the most powerful women.
Greg Abel
CEO, Berkshire Hathaway
🇨🇦🇺🇸 Canada / US
Abel succeeded Warren Buffett as CEO in January 2026. Berkshire Hathaway ranked 12th by market value at about $1.17 trillion per CompaniesMarketCap on Oct. 26, 2026.
Business and technology (16)
Elon Musk
CEO of Tesla, leader of SpaceX
🇺🇸 US
Musk is the world's richest person, at an estimated $927.6 billion on Forbes' real-time list on Oct. 26, 2026. CompaniesMarketCap listed SpaceX at about $2.0 trillion (No. 7) and Tesla at about $1.55 trillion (No. 11) that day.
Jensen Huang
Founder and CEO, Nvidia
🇺🇸🇹🇼 US / Taiwan
Nvidia, a leading maker of chips used to train and run AI models, was the world's most valuable listed company on Oct. 26, 2026, at about $5.22 trillion per CompaniesMarketCap on Oct. 26, 2026. Forbes estimates Huang's net worth at $187.2 billion.
John Ternus
CEO, Apple
🇺🇸 US
Ternus became Apple's CEO on Sept. 1, 2026, succeeding Tim Cook, who became executive chairman. Apple was the world's second most valuable listed company at about $5.02 trillion per CompaniesMarketCap on Oct. 26, 2026.
Satya Nadella
Chairman and CEO, Microsoft
🇺🇸🇮🇳 US / India
Nadella has run Microsoft since 2014. Microsoft was the third most valuable listed company at about $3.95 trillion per CompaniesMarketCap on Oct. 26, 2026, and is a major investor in AI infrastructure.
Sundar Pichai
CEO, Alphabet and Google
🇺🇸🇮🇳 US / India
Pichai leads Alphabet, parent of Google Search, YouTube and Android, and was named to the TIME100 2026 Titans list. Alphabet ranked fourth by market value at about $3.84 trillion per CompaniesMarketCap on Oct. 26, 2026.
Jeff Bezos
Founder and executive chair, Amazon; founder, Blue Origin
🇺🇸 US
Bezos is the world's second-richest person, at an estimated $369 billion on Forbes' Oct. 26, 2026 real-time list.
Andy Jassy
President and CEO, Amazon
🇺🇸 US
Jassy runs Amazon, owner of the Amazon Web Services cloud business. Amazon ranked fifth by market value at about $2.69 trillion per CompaniesMarketCap on Oct. 26, 2026.
Mark Zuckerberg
Founder and CEO, Meta
🇺🇸 US
Zuckerberg controls Meta, owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. Meta ranked ninth by market value at about $1.61 trillion per CompaniesMarketCap on Oct. 26, 2026, and Forbes estimates his net worth at $216.6 billion.
C.C. Wei
Chairman and CEO, TSMC
🇹🇼 Taiwan
Wei leads Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world's largest contract chipmaker. TSMC ranked sixth by market value at about $2.2 trillion per CompaniesMarketCap on Oct. 26, 2026. He was named to the TIME100 2026 list.
Sam Altman
CEO, OpenAI
🇺🇸 US
Altman leads OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT.
Dario Amodei and Daniela Amodei
CEO and President, Anthropic
🇺🇸 US
The siblings co-founded Anthropic, maker of the Claude AI models, and were both named to the TIME100 2026 list.
Lisa Su
Chair and CEO, AMD
🇺🇸 US
Su has led chipmaker AMD since 2014 and ranks 10th on Forbes' power women list. AMD was valued at about $870 billion per CompaniesMarketCap on Oct. 26, 2026. She earned her degrees at MIT.
Mary Barra
Chair and CEO, General Motors
🇺🇸 US
Barra was the first woman to lead a major U.S. automaker. Forbes ranks her seventh among the most powerful women.
Julie Sweet
Chair and CEO, Accenture
🇺🇸 US
Sweet has run the global consulting firm Accenture since 2019. Forbes ranks her sixth among the most powerful women.
Gwynne Shotwell
President and COO, SpaceX
🇺🇸 US
Shotwell runs day-to-day operations at SpaceX, the rocket maker and operator of the Starlink satellite internet network. CompaniesMarketCap listed SpaceX at about $2.0 trillion on Oct. 26, 2026. She was named to the TIME100 2026 list.
Aliko Dangote
President, Dangote Group
🇳🇬 Nigeria
Dangote's industrial group, which includes a large oil refinery in Lagos, operates across Africa. He was named to the TIME100 2026 Titans list.
Religion (1)
Pope Leo XIV
Pope, head of the Catholic Church
🇻🇦🇺🇸 Vatican / US
Born Robert Prevost in Chicago, he was elected on May 8, 2025, as the first pope from the United States. He was named to the TIME100 2026 list.
Science, space and health (4)
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
Director-General, World Health Organization
🇪🇹 Ethiopia
Tedros leads the U.N. health agency, which coordinates the global response to outbreaks, including the Ebola outbreak we track.
Reid Wiseman
NASA astronaut, Artemis II commander
🇺🇸 US
Wiseman commanded Artemis II, the first crewed flight around the moon in more than 50 years, which launched April 1, 2026, and splashed down April 10.
Kiran Musunuru and Rebecca Ahrens-Nicklas
Gene-editing researchers, Penn and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
🇺🇸 US
The pair developed the first CRISPR therapy custom-made for a single patient, an infant with a rare liver disorder, according to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
Mariangela Hungria
Microbiologist, Embrapa (Brazil)
🇧🇷 Brazil
Hungria's research on soil bacteria helps farmers cut chemical fertilizer use. She won the 2025 World Food Prize and was named to the TIME100 2026 list.
Culture and sport (7)
MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson)
YouTube creator and entrepreneur
🇺🇸 US
Donaldson runs the most-subscribed channel on YouTube and was named to the TIME100 2026 list.
Jennie
Singer, BLACKPINK
🇰🇷 South Korea
The K-pop star, a member of BLACKPINK, was named to the TIME100 2026 Artists list.
Zoe Saldaña
Actor
🇺🇸 US
Saldaña won the 2025 Academy Award for best supporting actress and appears on one of four TIME100 2026 covers.
Wagner Moura
Actor
🇧🇷 Brazil
The Brazilian actor appears on one of the four TIME100 2026 covers.
Scottie Scheffler
Professional golfer
🇺🇸 US
Scheffler was named to the TIME100 2026 Titans list.
Hilary Knight
Hockey player, U.S. women's national team
🇺🇸 US
Knight, a longtime U.S. Olympic forward and former Boston Fleet player, was named to the TIME100 2026 list. She now plays for PWHL Detroit.
Alysa Liu
Figure skater
🇺🇸 US
Liu was named to the TIME100 2026 Icons list.
Boston and Massachusetts: local figures with global influence
Greater Boston is home to institutions whose decisions reach far beyond Massachusetts: two of the world’s best-known research universities, one of the largest asset managers and a leading biotech company. Several people on this page also studied or played here. We list only connections we could confirm in a published source.
Alan M. Garber
President, Harvard University
Garber is Harvard's 31st president. Harvard is the oldest university in the United States, founded in 1636 in Cambridge. Source
Sally Kornbluth
President, MIT
Kornbluth is MIT's 18th president. MIT is based in Cambridge. Source
Abigail Johnson
Chairman and CEO, Fidelity Investments (Boston)
Johnson leads the Boston-based investment firm and ranks ninth on Forbes' power women list. Source
Reshma Kewalramani
President and CEO, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (Boston)
Fortune ranked her ninth on its 2026 Most Powerful Women list and reported that Vertex had $12.0 billion in 2025 revenue. Source
Kevin Warsh
Chairman, Federal Reserve
The Fed chairman holds a law degree from Harvard Law School, according to the IMF. Source
Lisa Su
Chair and CEO, AMD
The AMD chief studied electrical engineering at MIT. Source
Hilary Knight
U.S. women's hockey
Knight played for the PWHL's Boston Fleet before she signed with Seattle in 2026, according to NESN, and was later traded to Detroit. Source
More local coverage: Boston News · Boston business · Military hub · Massachusetts military history
Influence by the numbers
The charts below are built from the data on this page. Military figures are SIPRI’s estimates of 2025 spending, published April 27, 2026. Company values are market capitalizations listed by CompaniesMarketCap on Oct. 26, 2026, and change daily.
- The world’s top three military spenders, the United States, China and Russia, accounted for 51% of the $2,887 billion global total in 2025, according to SIPRI.
- The two richest people on Forbes’ real-time list on Oct. 26, 2026, Elon Musk ($927.6 billion) and Jeff Bezos ($369 billion), together held an estimated $1.3 trillion.
- Nvidia and Apple were each valued above $5 trillion on Oct. 26, 2026; the chief executives of the six most valuable companies all appear on this page.
- 21 of the 56 entries include at least one woman.
Rising influence to watch in 2027
These are scheduled or already-announced changes that will shift who holds major posts. We do not predict outcomes.
- The next U.N. secretary-general. António Guterres’ term ends Dec. 31, 2026, and the Security Council is selecting a successor. IAEA chief Rafael Mariano Grossi is among the candidates. U.N. selection process
- The U.K.’s G20 presidency. The United Kingdom takes over the G20 presidency in 2027, putting Prime Minister Andy Burnham in charge of the group’s agenda for the year.
- New chiefs settling in. Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh (since May 2026), Apple CEO John Ternus (since September 2026) and Berkshire Hathaway CEO Greg Abel (since January 2026) will each complete their first full year in 2027.
Full list: sort and filter
Pick a category or tap a column heading to sort. “Lists” counts how many of our source lists and indicators include each person.
Show full table (56 entries)
| Name ⇅ | Role | Category ⇅ | Country ⇅ | Lists ⇅ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Donald Trump | President of the United States | World leaders | 🇺🇸 US | 3 |
| Xi Jinping | General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and President of China | World leaders | 🇨🇳 China | 3 |
| Vladimir Putin | President of Russia | World leaders | 🇷🇺 Russia | 2 |
| Narendra Modi | Prime Minister of India | World leaders | 🇮🇳 India | 2 |
| Sanae Takaichi | Prime Minister of Japan | World leaders | 🇯🇵 Japan | 4 |
| Friedrich Merz | Chancellor of Germany | World leaders | 🇩🇪 Germany | 2 |
| Andy Burnham | Prime Minister of the United Kingdom | World leaders | 🇬🇧 UK | 2 |
| Emmanuel Macron | President of France | World leaders | 🇫🇷 France | 2 |
| Mohammed bin Salman | Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia | World leaders | 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia | 2 |
| Volodymyr Zelenskyy | President of Ukraine | World leaders | 🇺🇦 Ukraine | 1 |
| Giorgia Meloni | Prime Minister of Italy | World leaders | 🇮🇹 Italy | 2 |
| Claudia Sheinbaum | President of Mexico | World leaders | 🇲🇽 Mexico | 3 |
| Mark Carney | Prime Minister of Canada | World leaders | 🇨🇦 Canada | 2 |
| Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva | President of Brazil | World leaders | 🇧🇷 Brazil | 1 |
| Benjamin Netanyahu | Prime Minister of Israel | World leaders | 🇮🇱 Israel | 1 |
| Mette Frederiksen | Prime Minister of Denmark | World leaders | 🇩🇰 Denmark | 1 |
| Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah | President of Namibia | World leaders | 🇳🇦 Namibia | 1 |
| Ursula von der Leyen | President of the European Commission | World leaders | 🇪🇺🇩🇪 EU / Germany | 2 |
| António Guterres | Secretary-General of the United Nations | World leaders | 🇵🇹 Portugal | 1 |
| Rafael Mariano Grossi | Director General, International Atomic Energy Agency | World leaders | 🇦🇷 Argentina | 2 |
| Kevin Warsh | Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve | Finance | 🇺🇸 US | 1 |
| Christine Lagarde | President of the European Central Bank | Finance | 🇫🇷 France | 2 |
| Kristalina Georgieva | Managing Director, International Monetary Fund | Finance | 🇧🇬 Bulgaria | 1 |
| Ajay Banga | President, World Bank Group | Finance | 🇺🇸🇮🇳 US / India | 1 |
| Fatih Birol | Executive Director, International Energy Agency | Finance | 🇹🇷 Türkiye | 2 |
| Jane Fraser | Chair and CEO, Citigroup | Finance | 🇺🇸 US | 2 |
| Abigail Johnson | Chairman and CEO, Fidelity Investments | Finance | 🇺🇸 US | 2 |
| Greg Abel | CEO, Berkshire Hathaway | Finance | 🇨🇦🇺🇸 Canada / US | 1 |
| Elon Musk | CEO of Tesla, leader of SpaceX | Business | 🇺🇸 US | 2 |
| Jensen Huang | Founder and CEO, Nvidia | Business | 🇺🇸🇹🇼 US / Taiwan | 2 |
| John Ternus | CEO, Apple | Business | 🇺🇸 US | 1 |
| Satya Nadella | Chairman and CEO, Microsoft | Business | 🇺🇸🇮🇳 US / India | 1 |
| Sundar Pichai | CEO, Alphabet and Google | Business | 🇺🇸🇮🇳 US / India | 2 |
| Jeff Bezos | Founder and executive chair, Amazon; founder, Blue Origin | Business | 🇺🇸 US | 1 |
| Andy Jassy | President and CEO, Amazon | Business | 🇺🇸 US | 1 |
| Mark Zuckerberg | Founder and CEO, Meta | Business | 🇺🇸 US | 2 |
| C.C. Wei | Chairman and CEO, TSMC | Business | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | 2 |
| Sam Altman | CEO, OpenAI | Business | 🇺🇸 US | 0 |
| Dario Amodei and Daniela Amodei | CEO and President, Anthropic | Business | 🇺🇸 US | 1 |
| Lisa Su | Chair and CEO, AMD | Business | 🇺🇸 US | 1 |
| Mary Barra | Chair and CEO, General Motors | Business | 🇺🇸 US | 2 |
| Julie Sweet | Chair and CEO, Accenture | Business | 🇺🇸 US | 2 |
| Gwynne Shotwell | President and COO, SpaceX | Business | 🇺🇸 US | 1 |
| Aliko Dangote | President, Dangote Group | Business | 🇳🇬 Nigeria | 1 |
| Pope Leo XIV | Pope, head of the Catholic Church | Religion | 🇻🇦🇺🇸 Vatican / US | 1 |
| Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus | Director-General, World Health Organization | Science, space | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | 1 |
| Reid Wiseman | NASA astronaut, Artemis II commander | Science, space | 🇺🇸 US | 1 |
| Kiran Musunuru and Rebecca Ahrens-Nicklas | Gene-editing researchers, Penn and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia | Science, space | 🇺🇸 US | 1 |
| Mariangela Hungria | Microbiologist, Embrapa (Brazil) | Science, space | 🇧🇷 Brazil | 1 |
| MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson) | YouTube creator and entrepreneur | Culture | 🇺🇸 US | 1 |
| Jennie | Singer, BLACKPINK | Culture | 🇰🇷 South Korea | 1 |
| Zoe Saldaña | Actor | Culture | 🇺🇸 US | 1 |
| Wagner Moura | Actor | Culture | 🇧🇷 Brazil | 1 |
| Scottie Scheffler | Professional golfer | Culture | 🇺🇸 US | 1 |
| Hilary Knight | Hockey player, U.S. women's national team | Culture | 🇺🇸 US | 1 |
| Alysa Liu | Figure skater | Culture | 🇺🇸 US | 1 |
Related: Trump Presidency Tracker · Geopolitics and world affairs · Russia-Ukraine war stats · Iran War Tracker · UN Corruption Tracker · Economics Hub · Military Deployments Tracker · Ebola Outbreak Tracker · U.S. Military hub
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Frequently asked questions
Who is the most influential person in the world in 2026?
No single official ranking exists. On our page, people who appear on several independent lists or indicators include U.S. President Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. TIME's 2026 list, for example, is not ranked in order.
Who is the richest person in the world right now?
Elon Musk, with an estimated net worth of $927.6 billion on Forbes' real-time billionaires list on Oct. 26, 2026. Jeff Bezos was second at $369 billion.
Who is the most powerful woman in the world?
Forbes ranks European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen No. 1 on its World's 100 Most Powerful Women list, followed by ECB President Christine Lagarde and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
How is the TIME100 chosen?
TIME's editors pick the list. Editor-in-chief Sam Jacobs wrote that "there is no single metric that defines influence" and that selections are led by the stories shaping the world each year.
Which countries spend the most on their militaries?
According to SIPRI's April 2026 data, the top three spenders in 2025 were the United States ($954 billion), China ($336 billion) and Russia ($190 billion). Together they made up 51% of the world's $2,887 billion total.
How often is this page updated?
We review it every quarter and after major changes such as elections, leadership changes at large institutions, or new editions of the TIME and Forbes lists.
What is the most valuable company in the world in 2026?
On Oct. 26, 2026, Nvidia was the most valuable listed company at about $5.22 trillion, followed by Apple at about $5.02 trillion, according to CompaniesMarketCap. Values change daily with share prices.
Who will be the next U.N. secretary-general?
That has not been decided. António Guterres' term ends Dec. 31, 2026, and the Security Council recommends a successor to the General Assembly. IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi is among the candidates.
Follow The Boston Report
Sources
- TIME: The 100 Most Influential People of 2026
- TIME press release: 2026 TIME100 list and editor’s letter
- Forbes: The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women
- Fortune: Most Powerful Women 2026
- Forbes: Real-Time Billionaires (Oct. 26, 2026)
- SIPRI: World military expenditure 2025 (April 27, 2026)
- IMF: World Economic Outlook, October 2026
- CompaniesMarketCap: Companies ranked by market cap (Oct. 26, 2026)
- Federal Reserve Board: Kevin Warsh, Chairman
- GOV.UK: Prime Minister Andy Burnham
- Apple Newsroom: John Ternus to become Apple CEO
- United Nations: Selection of the next Secretary-General
Additional sources
- NASA: Artemis II mission
- Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia: CRISPR researchers named to TIME100
- World Bank: Ajay Banga at the 2026 Annual Meetings
- IMF: Managing Director Georgieva, Annual Meetings plenary
- WHO: Director-General’s remarks, Oct. 6, 2026
- CBS News: Greg Abel takes over as Berkshire Hathaway CEO
- NHK World: Takaichi marks one year in office Unverified claim,
- Harvard University: Office of the President
- MIT: About MIT
Photo credits: Top image, the Artemis II crew: Josh Valcarcel, NASA, via Wikimedia Commons (public domain). Headshots, cropped and resized, via Wikimedia Commons: Donald Trump: Daniel Torok, Public domain; Xi Jinping: Simon Dawson / No 10 Downing Street, CC BY 4.0; Vladimir Putin: Kremlin.ru, CC BY 4.0; Narendra Modi: Prime Minister's Office, GODL-India; Friedrich Merz: Steffen Prößdorf, CC BY-SA 4.0; Andy Burnham: Prime Minister's Office, OGL 3; Emmanuel Macron: Nebojša Tejić, Public domain; Mohammed bin Salman: وكالة الأنباء السعودية, CC BY-SA 4.0; Volodymyr Zelenskyy: Press Service of the President of Ukraine, CC BY 4.0; Giorgia Meloni: Governo Italiano, CC BY 3.0 it; Claudia Sheinbaum: Eneas, CC BY 4.0; Mark Carney: Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0; Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva: Ricardo Stuckert/PR, CC BY 2.0; Benjamin Netanyahu: Avi Ohayon, CC BY-SA 3.0; Mette Frederiksen: Christian Ursilva, CC BY-SA 4.0; Ursula von der Leyen: European People's Party, CC BY 2.0; António Guterres: Österreichisches Außenministerium, CC BY 2.0; Rafael Mariano Grossi: IAEA Imagebank, CC BY 2.0; Kevin Warsh: Federalreserve, Public domain; Christine Lagarde: Lemrich / European Central Bank, Attribution; Kristalina Georgieva: World Bank Group/ Grant Ellis, CC BY-SA 4.0; Ajay Banga: Lula Oficial, CC BY 2.0; Fatih Birol: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), on behalf of the International Energy Agency (IEA); photo, CC BY 4.0; Abigail Johnson: Village Global, CC BY 2.0; Greg Abel: Tankforwin, CC BY-SA 4.0; Elon Musk: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 4.0; Jensen Huang: The White House, Public domain; John Ternus: Tessa Bury, CC BY 4.0; Satya Nadella: Brian Smale and Microsoft, CC BY-SA 4.0; Sundar Pichai: Photographer: Lukasz Kobus (European Commission), CC BY 4.0; Jeff Bezos: SECWAR, Public domain; Andy Jassy: Lisi Mezistrano Wolf, CC BY-SA 4.0; Mark Zuckerberg: The White House, Public domain; Sam Altman: 首相官邸ホームページ / Office of the Prime Minister of Japan Official Website, CC BY 4.0; Dario Amodei and Daniela Amodei: TechCrunch, CC BY 2.0; Lisa Su: Fuzheado, CC BY 4.0; Mary Barra: Benjamin Applebaum, Public domain; Julie Sweet: World Economic Forum, CC BY 3.0; Gwynne Shotwell: Bill Ingalls, Public domain; Aliko Dangote: Saba Dubai, CC BY 3.0; Pope Leo XIV: Edgar Beltrán, The Pillar, CC BY-SA 4.0; Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus: Lula Oficial, CC BY-SA 2.0; Reid Wiseman: Josh Valcarcel, Public domain; MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson): Tyren Redd, CC BY 4.0; Jennie: 티비텐, CC BY 4.0; Zoe Saldaña: Kevin Payravi, CC BY-SA 4.0; Wagner Moura: Harald Krichel, CC BY-SA 4.0; Scottie Scheffler: Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0; Hilary Knight: U.S. Mission Korea, Public domain; Alysa Liu: YantsImages, CC BY-SA 4.0; Alan M. Garber: Xuthoria, CC BY-SA 4.0; Sally Kornbluth: MIT Media Library from Cambridge, MA, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0; Reshma Kewalramani: Pacamah, CC BY 4.0. People shown with initials had no clearly licensed photo available.