The World's Most Powerful Women 2013: Forbes

Forbes

For our 10th annual FORBES Power Women list, our mission is to redefine power. We've selected 100 women go beyond the traditional classifications of the power elite (political and economic might). They are actually shifting our very idea of clout and authority and transforming the world and in exhilarating and novel ways. This annual snapshot of the 100 women with impact are top politicians and CEOs, activist billionaires and celebrities who matter. In roughly equal measure you'll find next gen entrepreneurs, technologists and philanthropists —all ranked by dollars, media momentum and impact (see full methodology here).

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This year the list features eight heads of state -- including our No. 1 for the eighth time, German Chancellor Angela Merkel -- who run nations with a combined GDP of $9.9 trillion. The 24 corporate CEOs control $893 billion in revenues and of 16% of the women here have founded their own companies, including two new billionaires to the list, Tory Burch and Spanx's Sara Blakely. Speaking of, this year's class has 14 billionaires. 100 women on the 2013 list have major reach: a combined Twitter following of over 153 million.