# Who is the most powerful woman in the world? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 7, 2010, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-powerful-woman-in-the-world/556386 "2010-10-07T17:37:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![NineToTheSky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-powerful-woman-in-the-world/556386/1 "2010-10-07T17:37:35Z")
In a local news report Irene Rosenfeld, CEO of Kraft Foods was called ‘the second most powerful woman in the world’. Who is the most powerful? ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-powerful-woman-in-the-world/556386/2 "2010-10-07T17:42:36Z")
The Queen of England? Oprah? Probably Oprah. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-powerful-woman-in-the-world/556386/3 "2010-10-07T17:44:51Z")
[Michelle Obama](http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/The-Vote/2010/1007/Michelle-Obama-why-she-s-rated-the-world-s-most-powerful-woman) ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-powerful-woman-in-the-world/556386/4 "2010-10-07T17:45:10Z")
They may be referring to this [list](http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2010/fortune/1009/gallery.most_powerful_women.fortune/index.html)- it’s Pepsi’s CEO… ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-powerful-woman-in-the-world/556386/5 "2010-10-07T17:49:17Z")
I can think of a few candidates: Oprah Madonna Sonia Sotomayor Nancy Pelosi Michelle Obama Hillary Clinton Angela Merkel Nancy Grace ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-powerful-woman-in-the-world/556386/6 "2010-10-07T17:56:01Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > They may be referring to this [list](http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2010/fortune/1009/gallery.most_powerful_women.fortune/index.html)- it’s Pepsi’s CEO… I forgot to add: if you click on this link and the next ranking, Irene Rosenfeld is listed as #2. QED. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-powerful-woman-in-the-world/556386/7 "2010-10-07T17:57:55Z")
My lovely bride is not on that list. It is obviously flawed. I am posting this of my own free will. Really. ---
**Author:** ![NineToTheSky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-powerful-woman-in-the-world/556386/8 "2010-10-07T17:59:13Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > > [@WordMan](#): > > > > They may be referring to this [list](http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2010/fortune/1009/gallery.most_powerful_women.fortune/index.html)- it’s Pepsi’s CEO… > > I forgot to add: if you click on this link and the next ranking, Irene Rosenfeld is listed as #2. QED. True. But what is your opinion? That’s why I put this in IMHO, not GQ. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-powerful-woman-in-the-world/556386/9 "2010-10-07T18:00:56Z")
> [@NineToTheSky](#): > > > [@WordMan](#): > > > > I forgot to add: if you click on this link and the next ranking, Irene Rosenfeld is listed as #2. QED. > > True. But what is your opinion? That’s why I put this in IMHO, not GQ. From a ranking of business leadership it is a reasonable choice. But that list is only about business leadership not folks like Madonna or the Queen… ---
**Author:** ![NineToTheSky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-powerful-woman-in-the-world/556386/10 "2010-10-07T18:06:11Z")
That’s what made me think about this. Is Madonna _powerful_? She sells - or used to - a lot of records, but she certainly hasn’t influenced my life. The Queen? Nominally, she is powerful; but actually? I’m not sure she actually has much influence. ---
**Author:** ![MegaBee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f0a364/32.png) [@MegaBee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MegaBee)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-powerful-woman-in-the-world/556386/11 "2010-10-07T18:07:58Z")
Oprah ---
**Author:** ![NineToTheSky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-powerful-woman-in-the-world/556386/12 "2010-10-07T18:11:07Z")
> [@MegaBee](#): > > Oprah Why? Maybe in the States, but here in the UK, and, I suspect the rest of the world, it’s a name I know, as a TV interviewer, but how has she influenced the world? (I’m not being snarky. I really don’t know.) ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-powerful-woman-in-the-world/556386/13 "2010-10-07T18:13:12Z")
Well, the US is a big part of the world and our media influences a lot of other countries. Oprah has a big impact on what American women buy, for one thing. She’s also been very influential in book sales and, god help us, ideas good and bad (_The Secret_, Jenny McCarthy’s anti vaccination campaign.) ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-powerful-woman-in-the-world/556386/14 "2010-10-07T18:15:21Z")
I think Oprah telling her viewers not to buy Pepsi for xyz reason would have a much greater impact than Pepsi’s CEO telling her employees not to watch, read, surf, etc. Oprah. Just sayin. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-powerful-woman-in-the-world/556386/15 "2010-10-07T20:17:21Z")
leiu: Surely Ruth Bader Ginsburg is as powerful or more so than Sonia Sotomayor? ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-powerful-woman-in-the-world/556386/16 "2010-10-07T20:26:47Z")
That’s who I started to put at first, she’s certainly more tenured, but I thought with the loss of her husband and recent health concerns that she might be retiring before too long. Does she still have the fire? Sotomayor and Kagan both may be there for decades to come. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-powerful-woman-in-the-world/556386/17 "2010-10-07T20:48:04Z")
I think Michelle Obama, although she wields it indirectly. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-powerful-woman-in-the-world/556386/18 "2010-10-07T20:51:33Z")
Oprah has the most money and influence. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-powerful-woman-in-the-world/556386/19 "2010-10-07T21:39:10Z")
I guess it’s how you define power. How about Safra Catz? If she drops the ball, I don’t see any competing technologies ready to step in without crippling a huge amount of companies’ dependence on Oracle in some way, shape or form. Or what if Queen Rania lost her mind and asked all of her people / supporters / admirers to start hating Germans or something? ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-powerful-woman-in-the-world/556386/20 "2010-10-07T22:27:26Z")
Surely it’s Wonder Woman? She has a magical lasso. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-powerful-woman-in-the-world/556386.md?page=2)