Forbes List Of World’s Most Powerful Women In 2021 Names Kamala Harris, Nirmala Sitharaman, Falguni Nayar And More
I think we can all agree that it is harder for women to take up powerful positions than it is for men. For decades, women have been deprived of a lot of opportunities to hold positions of power. Many didn’t and still don’t even have access to basic education. Amidst all this, it is very inspiring to see women that beat the odds and make it. Hence, I am very thankful for the Forbes 100 most powerful women list which lists out some of the women that have achieved new heights and become inspirations for a lot of us.
The first person on the Forbes list is MacKenzie Scott who you might know as Amazon-owner Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife. Her current net worth is around $ 59.2 B. She divorced Bezos after 25 years of marriage and got 25% of his Amazon shares. However, in 2019, she signed the Giving Pledge essentially promising to donate half of her wealth over her lifetime. She also has a ‘no strings attached’ policy with her donations as she gives the organisations freedom to use the money as they please. Mackenzie also has also published two novels, The Testing of Luther Albright and Traps. She was the student of acclaimed author, Toni Morrison at Princeton and worked as a research assistant for her.
Second, on the Forbes list is US Vice President Kamala Harris. I think at this point we all know about this incredible woman. On January 20, 2021, Harris became the first black person, American-South Asian and woman to become the US VP. Not only that but in 2016, Kamala Harris also became the Indian-American woman to be appointed to the US Senate. In 2010, she was also the first woman to be California’s attorney general. Those are a LOT of firsts!
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Nirmala Sitharaman has ranked number 37 on the Forbes list. She was appointed as the finance minister of India in 2019. She is also the minister of corporate affairs. Sitharaman is the first full-time finance minister that India has had. About time! Moreover, before coming into politics she worked at the U.K.-based Agricultural Engineers Association and BBC World Service. She also served for the national commissions for women. She was also seen visiting Germany earlier this year and meeting with Defence Minister, Ursula von der Leyen who also ranked number 8 on the Forbes list.
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Number 52 on the list was held by Roshni Nadar Malhotra who is the CEO of HCL Corporations. She is also responsible for all strategic decisions for her $9.9 billion technology company. Whoa, am I in awe. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw ranked 72 on the Forbes list as India’s richest self-made woman as she founded India’s largest listed biopharmaceutical firm, Biocon, by revenue, in 1978. Her current net worth is $3.9B. Biocon has Asia’s biggest insulin factory in Malaysia. Biocon is also working with U.S. firm Adagio Therapeutics to develop antibody therapy called ADG20 to prevent and treat the coronavirus and its variants. The need of the hour!
We also have Nykaa CEO and founder Falguni Nayar at number 88 on the Forbes list. We all are very familiar with Nykaa as a company and brand at this point. Her current net worth is $7.2B She has billionaires such as Harsh Mariwala and Harry Banga along with U.S. private equity giant TPG Growth are marquee investors in her business. She made Nykaa public in November 2021 and became one of India’s richest self-made female entrepreneurs. The list also included Oprah Winfrey at number 23, Reese Witherspoon at #74, Beyoncé at #76, Taylor Swift at #78. At #34 we also have Jacinda Ardern who is New Zealand’s PM and the youngest female leader in the world. She is also New Zealand’s youngest PM in the last 150 years.
Congratulations to these amazing and brilliant women for making a name for themselves and getting on the Forbes 100 most powerful women list. All of them have proved their mettle in fields usually dominated by men and inspired millions across the globe to achieve their dreams too. As Kamala Harris rightfully said, “What I want young women and girls to know is: You are powerful and your voice matters.”
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