The World's Most Powerful Women

Our annual ranking of the most powerful women in the world measures "power" as a composite of public profile--calculated using press mentions--and financial heft. The economic component of the ranking considers job title and past career accomplishments, as well as the amount of money the woman controls.

A chief executive "controls" the revenue of her business, for instance, while a head of state gets the country's gross domestic product. The raw numbers are modified to allow comparisons across financial realms.

For the third year running Germany's chancellor, Angela Merkel, is the world's most powerful woman. U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton (overall rank: 28) is the woman with the highest public profile, resulting from the intense media scrutiny of her failed presidential bid.

Hopeful signs for women: Our fifth annual ranking showcases women who have beat out men for top posts this year, including Lynn Laverty Elsenhans (No. 39), the new chief of Sunoco; Gail Kelly (No. 11), who heads Australian bank Westpac; and Jane Mendillo (No. 42), who was just named to run the $35 billion Harvard University endowment.

In total, the women ranked on this list control $26 trillion worldwide.

The tenuous state of the world economy, however, has many of the world's most powerful women in the same precarious positions as their male peers. Economic woes this year have already claimed the jobs of Patricia Russo, who headed the troubled Alcatel Lucent (nyse: ALU - news - people ), and Zoe Cruz, former president of Morgan Stanley (nyse: MS - news - people ). Other highly placed women could be in jeopardy as well.

But while individual female leaders continue to climb higher, women as a group are making only modest gains. Women have hovered for a decade around 46% of the American labor force, but they hold only 15% of top corporate jobs; less than 3% of the country's biggest companies have female chief executives, according to research nonprofit Catalyst.

The most powerful woman in the world, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, tops the list for the third year running as the ranking democratically elected female leader. Sheila Bair, head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the embattled U.S. bank-deposit insurer, debuts in second place as she tries to stave off financial panic amid a worldwide credit crisis.

At No. 3, Indra Nooyi of PepsiCo (nyse: PEP - news - people ) is the highest-ranked woman in business as she expands the food and beverage giant internationally to counter a decline in Americans' preference for soda and chips.

Angela Braly (No. 4), the head of big health insurer WellPoint (nyse: WLP - news - people ), suffered a setback this spring when her downward revision of financial forecasts caused a stock tumble, sparking investor and employee ire.

At No. 5, Cynthia Carroll is leading mining giant Anglo-American to riches in the commodities boom. Kraft (nyse: KFT - news - people ) chief Irene Rosenfeld (No. 6), is slowly turning around the mac 'n cheese maker in her second year on the job, scoring a big hit in China with a new Oreo.

In the last few months of her tenure, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (No. 7) faces a myriad of diplomatic flare-ups: an unstable Pakistan, a bellicose Russia and the long-smoldering Middle East peace question. Ho Ching (No. 8), the head of Singaporean sovereign wealth fund Temasek, has been moving more of the city-state's money abroad and now owns 15% of Merrill Lynch (nyse: MER - news - people ).

In France, Areva (other-otc: ARVCF.PK - news - people ) head Anne Lauvergeon (No. 9) has been dealing with public fallout from this summer's leaks at two nuclear plants, even as France has announced plans to build more. Anne Mulcahy (No. 10) has doubled her research and development budget to focus on color printing and eco-friendly technologies.

These women top a far-flung list that comprises 54 businesswomen and 23 politicians, with the rest being media execs and personalities and nonprofit leaders. A third are newcomers to the rankings; this reflects not only new top positions for women, such as Starcom MediaVest's Laura Desmond (No. 55) and Enterprise's Pamela Nicholson (No. 93), but also the increasingly global reach of this list, with more women from outside the U.S. rising to worldwide prominence.

Just under half the women ranked this year are based outside of the U.S. Top countries represented include the U.K. (five women), China (four), France, India and the Netherlands (three apiece). Morocco has its first ranked woman this year: Hynd Bouhia (No. 29), director-general of the Casablanca Stock Exchange.

Candidates for our list are globally recognized women at the top of their fields: chief executives and their highest-ranked lieutenants, elected officials, nonprofit leaders. They don't have to be rich, but they do have to wield significant influence. This year, an architect, a war correspondent and several foundation executives all won spots on the list.

We measure power as a composite of public profile--calculated using press mentions--and financial heft. This year, for instance, the woman with the highest public profile is Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, No. 28, who garnered intense media scrutiny for her failed U.S. presidential bid.

The economic component of the ranking considers job title and past career accomplishments, as well as the amount of money a woman controls. A chief executive gets the revenue of her business, for example, while a Nobel winner receives her prize money and a U.N. agency head receives her organization's budget. We modify the raw dollar figures to allow comparisons among the different financial realms so that the corporate revenue that an executive controls, for instance, is on the same footing as a country's gross domestic product, ascribed to prime ministers.

Rank :

#1 Angela Merkel
Chancellor
Germany



With $3.3 trillion in GDP, Germany is Europe's biggest economy, and Merkel's reforms are sparking a rebound, with unemployment falling (although consumer confidence just hit a five-year low). She pushed through a later retirement age, put more women in senior government posts, and raised payments to new parents. Bulldozes through controversy: hosted the Dalai Lama, chastised Mugabe, and wants to make the euro a bigger player in global financial markets as the dollar wanes. Also trying to make Germany more eco-friendly with steep greenhouse-gas cuts. Europeans voted her their most influential politician. — Tatiana Serafin


#2 Sheila C. Bair
Chairman, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
U.S.



The head of the embattled FDIC has been trying to reassure an edgy American public that the country's financial institutions are sound—even as six banks have now failed this year. Bair's domain is the last stop for capital-starved banks (and their insured customers) before going under. But the July demise of IndyMac, the largest bankruptcy of a financial institution in the last two decades, has rattled nerves. As banks continue to fail, Bair must continue to show the fortitude that has helped her lead an institution that is suddenly an actor in this global drama. — Heidi Brown


#3 Indra K. Nooyi
Chairman, chief executive, PepsiCo
U.S.



Nooyi continues to grow PepsiCo, the $39 billion food and beverage giant, through new product offerings and acquisitions. Company subsidiaries Quaker, Gatorade and FritoLay introduced a new line of whole-grain oatmeal and granola bars called Simple Harvest, and G2, a low-calorie "lifestyle beverage" for athletes. Nooyi orchestrated a major expansion into international markets, most notably with a $1.4 billion acquisition of a 75% stake in Russian juice giant Lebedyansky. — Kate Macmillan


#4 Angela Braly
Chief executive, president, WellPoint
U.S.



Named CEO in June 2007, Braly crashed through health insurance's glass ceiling but still earned $26 million less last year than her male predecessor. The St. Louis attorney helped Missouri's Blue Cross convert from a nonprofit into an investor-owned company in 1994. Made the leap to WellPoint when the company acquired Blue Cross in 2001. The 35-million-member insurer revised its forecasts in March after reporting more claims than expected. Now facing wrath from employees who lost an estimated $100 million from their 401(k)s when company shares swooned 39% in March. — Emily Schmall


#5 Cynthia Carroll
Chief executive, Anglo American
U.K.



The commodities boom means big money for Carroll. The Skidmore College geology major started her career with Amoco in 1981. Spent 17 years at aluminum company Alcan. In 2006, became the first woman and first non-South African to lead Anglo American, the mining giant founded by Ernest Oppenheimer in 1917. Completed $5.5 billion iron ore deal in Brazil. Recently appointed to the board of BP. — Emily Schmall


#6 Irene B. Rosenfeld
Chairman, chief executive, Kraft Foods
U.S.



Rosenfeld was tapped in 2006 to helm Kraft. The first two years have been somewhat sticky, but Rosenfeld's three-year turnaround plan is showing some teeth. Last year Kraft delivered its best revenue growth since 2001, up 21% to $10.4 billion. Profits aren't yet up to par, but Rosenfeld, who holds a Ph.D. in marketing, plans to tackle those margins with higher prices, smaller portions and some surprising new gimmicks. The company's reformulation of the Oreo cookie with less sugar and a long, thin shape was a hit in China, raking in over $1 billion in sales last year. — Devon Pendleton


#7 Condoleezza Rice
Secretary of state
U.S.



Shoring up her legacy before the Bush administration leaves office, Rice continues to try for peace in the Middle East; the U.S. is cautiously engaging North Korea and trying to contain Iran. But her efforts are coming to naught around the world: In Pakistan, U.S. support for anti-al-Qaida ally Pervez Musharraf, who resigned, may have jeopardized ties with his successor; Russia is growing more autocratic; and her State Department has come under fire for its lax oversight of contractor Blackwater. Successes: ties with Japan, China and India have solidified. — Tatiana Serafin


#8 Ho Ching
Chief executive, Temasek Holdings
Singapore



The wife of the prime minister of Singapore, Ho Ching has been credited with converting Temasek from a Singapore-focused firm to a leading investor in Asia. She earned accolades by making investments in Indian and Chinese telecoms and banks, and as a result, brought the portfolio to roughly $100 billion. Temasek has bought a 15% stake in Merrill Lynch since last December in the wake of the bank's write-downs. Another deal, Temasek's tax-free takeover of Shin Corp., one of Thailand's biggest telecom companies, sparked a wave of protests. The tax-free deal eventually led to the overthrow of Thailand's prime minister. — Megha Bahree


#9 Anne Lauvergeon
Chief executive, Areva
France



Lauvergeon has seen her leadership tested this year with two leaks of nuclear fuel in France this summer—one of which tainted drinking water in the southeastern town where it occurred. The incidents raised renewed questions about the safety of nuclear power. It's tough timing for Areva—and many hard-pressed governments around the world—as energy prices had spurred a new look at nuclear power. Although she enjoys the public backing of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Lauvergeon's fate as chief executive may well hinge on her ability to quell fears about the fear of nuclear disaster. — Heidi Brown


#10 Anne Mulcahy
Chairman, chief executive, Xerox Corp.
U.S



Mulcahy, credited with pulling iconic copier manufacturer from the brink of financial collapse, is still winning praise for her remarkable turnaround effort. In June she became the first woman to be named by her peers as Chief Executive of the Year, an honor previously bestowed on the likes of Bill Gates and Jack Welch. But don't look for Long Island, N.Y., native Mulcahy to rest on any laurels. To fend off rivals Canon and Hewlett-Packard, she's doubled the software R&D budget to $1.5 billion and focused research efforts on color printing and eco-friendly technologies. — Devon Pendleton

The World's Largest Malls 2008

They're springing up in Asia, but will they all last?

Heading out to the mall--isn't that yesterday's way to shop?

Not in Asia, where land is cheap and labor costs are low. A building boom has enormous shopping malls popping up in China, Malaysia and the Philippines, with India expected to jump into the fold soon. Based on gross leasable area, or the amount of space devoted to revenue-producing operations like stores, amusements and food, the continent is home to nine of the world's 10 largest malls, six of which have been built since 2004. That's added some 27 million square feet of shopping space to cities like Beijing and Guangzhou in China and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.

While many traditional malls in North America are getting squeezed by a big-box era that includes the likes of Wal-Mart Stores (nyse: WMT - news - people ), Best Buy (nyse: BBY - news - people ) and Target (nyse: TGT - news - people ) in nearly every county, Asia's rapidly growing economy has spawned a new wave of consumers looking for places to shop and play.
In Pictures: The World's 10 Largest Shopping Malls

Most of them are quite ritzy, too. A pair of Chinese malls that rank as the world's two largest--the South China Mall in Dongguan and Golden Resources Mall in Beijing--include features like wind mills and kids' theme parks. Golden Resources Mall is surrounded by newly built apartments and office buildings.

Just four years ago, the top 10 list would have included a pair of popular California destinations--South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa and Del Amo Fashion Center in Los Angeles--along with the King of Prussia Mall in Pennsylvania and the famed Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn.

"It's almost unimaginable, the boom that has occurred in these Eastern cities," says Emil Pocock, a professor at Eastern Connecticut State University, whose American Studies department has documented the sizes and amenities of the world's largest malls. Many more of those regions' consumers now own cars, he notes, a phenomenon that has stimulated demand for more destination shopping centers. That's attracted money from mall-management groups from outside the country, largely from Indonesia and Japan.

"These people need a place to shop, and it's not going to be at the old shopping districts that date back to the days of traditional socialist rule," Pocock says.

There's a downside to all this building in China, at least in the short term. With many residents still accustomed to shopping in small local shops, demand isn't yet keeping up with supply at the new, big malls, according to information supplied to Eastern Connecticut State by Steven Beesley, co-founder of the Institute of Shopping Centre Management in Hong Kong. Malls built outside the downtown areas of major metros could have trouble surviving, he thinks.

In the U.S., meanwhile, the traditional shopping mall is part of a saturated market, thanks to the off-mall big-box retailers and to retail-industry consolidation that has jettisoned previously popular anchor stores like Montgomery Ward from the landscape. Many malls have taken to revamping or downsizing to survive. At the Houston Mall in Texas, for example, a traffic court and outpatient health-care services have replaced big stores like Sears.

And at Illinois' Park Forest Mall, near Chicago, Sears and other big stores were razed about 10 years ago to make way for a Main Street thoroughfare that includes a town green, residential units and a series of smaller stores.

In the hope of finding future growth, developers are turning to mixed-use centers, projects that combine retail, dining, entertainment and residential living units, not unlike some of the new Asian malls, like the Beijing Mall and Berjaya Times Square in Malaysia.

"We recognized in the '90s that the future of the business would be acquiring properties and [enhancing] them," says John Bucksbaum, chief executive of General Growth Properties (nyse: GGP - news - people ).

An acquisition spree begun in 1993 has increased his company's portfolio of shopping-center properties to over 200, with a market capitalization of approximately $37 billion, from 22 centers and a $1.2 billion market cap. An ambitious project that sums up GGP's vision is a massive redevelopment of the Natick Mall, a 40-year-old shopping center in suburban Boston. Longtime anchors Macy's (nyse: M - news - people ) and Sears aren't going anywhere, but a major expansion will add two luxury condominium complexes and an upscale shopping area headlined by Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom (nyse: JWN - news - people ).

Elsewhere, mixed-use "lifestyle centers," a creation of outdoor urban villages that mix retail theater and condos, are lining the map more and more. At Biltmore Fashion Park in Phoenix, outdoor walkways, myriad restaurants and spas surround top retail names like Neiman Marcus and Gucci. And at The Oaks, originally a 1970s-era mall in Thousand Oaks, Calif., near Los Angeles, a 1993 makeover helped it fit in with a planned suburb that includes growth areas like Simi Valley, Camarillo and Agoura Hills.

If the trend holds, say goodbye to the store-dominated mall, one where weary shoppers looking for a dining or amusement break are limited to the food court and the arcade room.

"It creates more density on the land you already own, which a lot of communities prefer to urban sprawl," Bucksbaum says.


No : 1 South China Mall

Location: Dongguan, China
Year Opened: 2005
Gross Leasable Area: 7.1 million square feet

In the Chinese mall arms race, this facility opened a year after the Golden Resources Mall to displace it as the country's and the world's largest. The space includes wind mills and theme parks, plus a replica of the Arc de Triomphe.

No : 2 Golden Resources Shopping Mall

Location: Beijing, China
Year Opened: 2004
Gross Leasable Area: 6 million square feet

Not sprawling, this is a stacked-up five-story mall. Approximately 1,000 stores, selling plenty of familiar global brands like Nike and DKNY. A truly ambitious real estate project, with new apartments and offices, surround the mall. A tough location outside the heart of the city has resulted in disappointing traffic from foreign tourists.




No : 3 SM Mall of Asia

Location: Pasay City, Philippines
Year Opened: 2006
Gross Leasable Area: 4.2 million square feet

Includes the first Olympic-sized swimming pool and first IMAX theater in the Philippines. Spread over four buildings, customers can get around on a 20-seat tram.




No : 4 Cevahir Istanbul

Location: Istanbul, Turkey
Year Opened: 2005
Gross Leasable Area: 3.8 million square feet

Europe's largest shopping mall has a roller coaster, wave pool and several IMAX theaters.




No : 5 West Edmonton Mall

Location: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Year Opened: 1981
Gross Leasable Area: 3.8 million square feet

The biggest in North America, the West Edmonton Mall has over 800 stores, along with attractions like a water park, skating rink, casino and rides.




No : 6 SM Megamall

Location: Mandaluyong City, Philippines
Year Opened: 1991
Gross Leasable Area: 3.6 million square feet

Fun stuff includes bowling, ice skating and a 12-cinema movie theater, along with traditional mall fare like arcade games. Customers can also get a haircut or see a doctor at the Manila clinic.




No : 7 Berjaya Times Square

Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Year Opened: 2005
Gross Leasable Area: 3.4 million square feet

Built with an adjacent hotel and convention center. In addition to over 1,000 retail shops, the mall includes a 12-story-high roller coaster, plus a pool, skating rink and "Cosmo's World," a children's theme park.




No : 8 Beijing Mall

Location: Beijing, China
Year Opened: 2005
Gross Leasable Area: 3.4 million square feet

The first real suburban mall in China, located about an hour from downtown Beijing, this center has four levels with parking for 8,000 cars, plus a man-made beach. Bootlegged DVDs of American movies are a top seller.




No : 9 Zhengjia Plaza

Location: Guangzhou, China
Year Opened: 2005
Gross Leasable Area: 3 million square feet

Has been known to attract over half a million shoppers on a good day. Another mixed-use space, the mall has a hotel and office tower in addition to retail stores.




No : 10 SM City North Edsa

Location: Quezon City, Philippines
Year Opened: 1985
Gross Leasable Area: 3 million square feet

The first major "mega mall" built by SM Prime Holdings, which now claims three of the largest 10 in the world. It's a five-story complex that boasts over 100 retail outlets and restaurants, along with 12 cinemas, a bowling alley and skating rink. An IMAX theater could be added soon.

New World's Tallest Man

New world's tallest man stands at a towering 8ft 5ins (256.54 cm)

He has spent years shrinking away from the limelight and at school his nickname was 'titch' because he was so tiny. But Ukrainian Leonid Stadnyk has now officially become the world's tallest man standing at a towering 8ft 5ins(256.54 cm) in tall.

Measuring an impressive 8ins(20.32cm) taller than the previous record holder, Mongolia's Bao Xishun, it has long been suspected that Stadnyk should hold the official title of the world's tallest man.

No, this isn't a toy, but at 8ft 5ins Leonid Stadnik makes this car look like a Mini

But until now the 37-year-old former veterinarian has always refused to be officially measured for the Guinness Book of Records as he hates his height and didn't want to be famous.

The towering giant who lives in Podoliantsi, a tiny village in Ukraine has called his height 'God's biggest punishment for me' and refuses to look in the mirror. His extraordinary growth spurt started at the age of 14 after surgery on a benign brain tumour stimulated his pituitary gland, which is responsible for generating the hormones that boost growth.

How many tall men does it take to change a light bulb?

Previously at school, the Ukrainian was one of the smallest boys in his class and he used to be known to fellow pupils as 'titch'. But his condition known as acromegalic gigantism, saw him grow so fast that suit trousers which once fitted him perfectly were 12 inches too short within two years.

He now sleeps on two beds joined together lengthwise, weighs nearly 32 stone, and has 17-inch feet. His gargantuan palms measure more than a foot in diameter. Despite persistent attempts by the Guinness Book of Records to officially measure him over the last three years, Stadnyk had always refused until he met London growth expert, Professor Michael Besser.

Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko, left, shakes hands with Leonid Stadnik, 36, believed to be the world's tallest man

On examination, the specialist found to his surprise that the brain tumour which had haunted Stadnyk for more than 20 years had naturally died off - saving Stadnyk's life and finally halting his extraordinary growth spurt. It was Professor Besser's discovery - filmed for a documentary on the Discovery Channel in December last year- that led to the emergence of his true height after it was measured officially in Kiev.

Now he has been added to the record books in America, although the 2008 Guinness Book of Records won't be published in the UK until September 28 this year. The former veterinarian, now lives with his mother in a cramped three-room, one-storey house in northwestern Ukraine where he has to contort his frame to get in the doorway.

Bao Xishun, who was the world's tallest man, with his 5' 6 wife

Stadnyk spends his days taking care of the family's house, cows and pigs, gardening and looking after a tiny pet parakeet. Although he was once able to work on a cattle farm, he had to quit six years ago after his feet became frostbitten because he couldn't able afford to buy a pair of specially made size 27 shoes which cost £98 - the equivalent of seven months' worth of his pension- for his gigantic feet.

Professor Besser, from the London Clinic Centre for Endocrinology said: "He doesn't want to be famous. He lives like a hermit and he says he has done nothing to court fame and wants nothing to do with the Guinness Book of Records.

Bao Xishun shakes hands with He Pingping who claims to be the shortest

"His recovery from the tumour has been remarkable."

The former record holder was Mongolian Bao Xishun who was measured at 7 ft 8.95in (236.093cm) on January 15 2005 at Chifeng City Hospital, Inner Mongolia, China.

The UK's tallest man is Neil Fingleton, who was measured at 7ft 7.56ins (233.06cm) at the Guinness World Records offices on January 29 2007. The tallest ever man was American Robert Pershing Wadlow, who was born in Alton, Illinois on 22 February 1918 and was last measured at 8ft 11.1(272.034cm) in tall on 27 June 1940.

[Video] World's Tallest Man Is Riding High



The world's tallest man, Leonid Stadnyk, has been forced into a new health regime to help his body cope with his height. He has had an exercise machine specially designed for him and has taken his first tentative pedals on a new super-sized bike.