Forbes list of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women

2016 (top 10 selection)

1. Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany
2. Hillary Clinton, Presidential candidate of the United States
3. Janet Yellen, Chair of the Federal Reserve of the United States
4. Melinda Gates, Co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
5. Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors
6. Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund
7. Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook
8. Susan Wojcicki, CEO of YouTube
9. Meg Whitman, CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise
10. Ana Patricia Botín, Executive Chairman of Banco Santander

2015 (top 10 selection)

1. Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany
2. Hillary Clinton, Presidential candidate of the United States
3. Melinda Gates, Co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
4. Janet Yellen, Chair of the Federal Reserve of the United States
5. Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors
6. Taylor Swift, Song writer and performer
7. Dilma Rousseff, President of Brazil
8. Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook
9. Susan Wojcicki, CEO of YouTube
10. Michelle Obama, First Lady of the United States

2014 (top 10 selection)

1. Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany
2. Janet Yellen, Chair of the Federal Reserve of the United States
3. Melinda Gates, Co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
4. Dilma Rousseff, President of Brazil
5. Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund
6. Hillary Clinton, Former United States Secretary of State
7. Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors
8. Michelle Obama, First Lady of the United States
9. Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook
10. Virginia Rometty, CEO of IBM

2013 (top 10 selection)

1. Angela Merkel
2. Dilma Rousseff
3. Melinda Gates
4. Michelle Obama
5. Hillary Clinton
6. Sheryl Sandberg
7. Christine Lagarde
8. Janet Napolitano
9. Sonia Gandhi
10. Indra Nooyi

2012 (top 10 selection)

1. Angela Merkel
2. Hillary Clinton
3. Dilma Rousseff
4. Melinda Gates
5. Jill Abramson
6. Sonia Gandhi
7. Michelle Obama
8. Christine Lagarde
9. Janet Napolitano
10. Sheryl Sandberg

2011 (top 10 selection)

1. Angela Merkel
2. Hillary Clinton
3. Dilma Rousseff
4. Indra Nooyi
5. Sheryl Sandberg
6. Melinda Gates
7. Sonia Gandhi
8. Michelle Obama
9. Christine Lagarde
10. Irene Rosenfeld

2010 (top 10 selection)

1. Michelle Obama
2. Irene Rosenfeld
3. Oprah Winfrey
4. Angela Merkel
5. Hillary Clinton
6. Indra Nooyi
7. Lady Gaga
8. Gail Kelly
9. Beyoncé Knowles
10. Ellen DeGeneres

2009 (top 10 selection)

1. Angela Merkel
2. Sheila Bair
3. Indra Nooyi
4. Cynthia Carroll
5. Ho Ching
6. Irene Rosenfeld
7. Ellen Kullman
8. Angela Braly
9. Anne Lauvergeon
10. Lynn Elsenhans

2008 (top 10 selection)

1. Angela Merkel
2. Sheila Bair
3. Indra Nooyi
4. Angela Braly
5. Cynthia Carroll
6. Irene Rosenfeld
7. Condoleezza Rice
8. Ho Ching
9. Anne Lauvergeon
10. Anne Mulcahy

2007 (top 10 selection)

1. Angela Merkel
2. Wu Yi
3. Ho Ching
4. Condoleezza Rice
5. Indra Nooyi
6. Sonia Gandhi
7. Cynthia Carroll
8. Patricia Woertz
9. Irene Rosenfeld
10. Patricia Russo

2006 (top 10 selection)

1. Angela Merkel
2. Condoleezza Rice
3. Wu Yi
4. Indra Nooyi
5. Anne Mulcahy
6. Sallie Krawcheck
7. Patricia Woertz
8. Anne Lauvergeon
9. Brenda Barnes
10. Zoe Cruz

2005 (top 10 selection)

1. Condoleezza Rice
2. Wu Yi
3. Yulia Tymoshenko
4. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
5. Margaret Whitman
6. Anne Mulcahy
7. Sallie Krawcheck
8. Brenda Barnes
9. Oprah Winfrey
10. Melinda Gates

2004 (top 10 selection)

1. Condoleezza Rice
2. Wu Yi
3. Sonia Gandhi
4. Laura Bush
5. Hillary Clinton
6. Sandra Day O'Connor
7. Ruth Bader Ginsburg
8. Megawati Sukarnoputri
9. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
10. Carly Fiorina