Donald Trump, a self-proclaimed
real estate mogul and the 45th President of the United States was born in 1946
in Queens, New York. He was born into one of the wealthiest families at the
time, and he began working with his dad, in the real estate business, from an
early age. He learned so much about the real estate world from his father, and
he later joined the Manhattan real estate world from where he expanded his
investments throughout the world. Trump is actually the first, in U.S history,
billionaire president. He, however, made it clear that he will be handing over
the control of the businesses to his sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr.
As of 2016, Trump’s net worth was at $3.9 billion. He first hit
a milestone by teaming up, in 1980, with Holiday Inn, Corp., though known by
another name then. They developed a hotel and casino complex worth $250 million
in Atlantic City that was named Harrah’s situated in Trump Plaza. After some
time, Trump bought these partners then renamed the property. He then proceeded
to purchase another property, still in Atlantic City worth $320 million from
Hilton Hotels.
Trump is known
for his “dare devil” spirit and his determination to succeed at whatever he
started no matter the cost. This has seen him buy different properties all over
the world and convert them to the most elegant properties on the market. He has
had his downfalls yes due to economic and political changes, but this has never
stopped him from investing and making more profits. Any ordinary person many
view him as arrogant and an “I don’t care” kind of a person, but economists
love his spirit. His most vocal words as the 45th president of the U.S.A is to
make America great again, and everyone is waiting for this to happen.
This
is the man who does what he wants and gets away with impunity. He was ranked
1st by Forbes. Aged 63, Vladimir Putin is incumbent president of Russian
Federation. Putin has been president since 2012. Before then, he was the prime
minister between 1999 and 2000. He later became prime minister again from 2008
to 2012. He was the chair of the ruling party, United Russia as prime minister
from 2008 to 2012. Between 1970 and 1975, Putin attended Saint Petersburg State
University where he studied law.
He retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in to join politics in 1991 in his home Saint Petersburg. In 1996, he moved to Moscow to join the administration of President Boris Yeltsin. He managed to rise quickly through the ranks to become the acting president in 1999. The following year, Putin won the election beating Gennady Zyuganov. In 2004, he won again with 72% of the votes. The economy of Russia grew for eight straight years under the presidency of Putin.
Born in 1953, Beijing, China,
Jinping is the incumbent president of China. He is also the General Secretary
of the Communist Party of China. He also chairs the Central Military
Commission. Xi is an ex-officio member of the Politburo Standing Committee. The
committee is a top decision-making body in China. Xi also chairs the newly
formed National Security Commission. He is also the chair of other steering
committees on economic and social reforms. Further, he is the chair in
commissions for military reforms and the internet.
From 1999 to 2002, Xi served as Governor of Fujian. Between 2002
and 2007, he served both as the Party Committee Secretary. At the same time, he
was the Governor of Zhejiang. Xi has led an anti-corruption campaign. The
campaigns resulted in the arrest of Xu Caihou, and Zhou YongKang. He is a
paramount leader and has become one of the most influential Chinese Rulers. Xi
has changed the thinking of the conservative Chinese through reforms.
Additionally, he is bold enough to allow the media to capture some of his daily
activities. During his leadership, China has investments in almost all part of
the world. His meeting with the US and UK leaders led to business deals worth
$46 billion.
In 2007, Merkel became the 2nd woman to become president of the European Council. Also, she was the chairperson of G8. Moreover, Merkel has played a critical role in negotiations regarding the Treaty of Libson. What’s more, the Berlin Declaration. Single-handedly, she has offered solutions to problems faced by her constituents. Merkel has managed to take her country through a recession. She provided credit facilities for those companies cutting hours for employees. She also convinced Greece and Spain to consider Germans’ fiscal and legal logic. Germany ushered 2020 with a budget surplus of 12.1 billion Euros. Recently, she opened the German borders. That would allow over 1 million immigrants from Syria and other Muslim nations. This humanitarian act has earned her accolades.
Entrepreneur and e-commerce pioneer Jeff Bezos is the founder
and CEO of the e-commerce company Amazon, owner of The Washington Post and
founder of the space exploration company Blue Origin. His successful
business ventures have made him one of the richest people in the world.
Born in 1964 in New Mexico, Bezos had an early love of computers
and studied computer science and electrical engineering at Princeton University. After
graduation, he worked on Wall Street, and in 1990 he became the youngest senior
vice president at the investment firm D.E.Shaw.
Four years later, Bezos quit his lucrative job to open
Amazon.com, an online bookstore that became one of the Internet's biggest
success stories. In 2013, Bezos purchased The Washington Post, and in 2017
Amazon acquired Whole Foods.
He was born in 1936 in
Argentina. But his parents named him Jorge Mario Bergoglio. His is the current
Pope of The Roman Catholic Church. He became the 266th Pope in 2013 and the
first from America. Pope Francis replaced Pope Benedict XVI after his
resignation as pope. Pope is the Bishop of Roman and the Sovereign of the
Vatican City. From 1973-79, he served as Provincial Superior of the Society of
Jesus in Argentina. Earlier, he was the Archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998. The
pope has faced some accusations too. He gave for two of his priests to the
National Reorganization Process during the Dirty War. Later, all allegations
against him were removed.
In 2001, John Paul II ordained him as a cardinal. Pope Francis efforts to change the face of the Roman Catholic Church are notable. He attended Congress in the US to address the issues of climate change and immigration. Also, he spoke about the fate of Christians and non-Christians suffering in the Middle East. He has also visited inmates in a Philadelphia. Also, he went to console the victims of priestly sexual abuse. He is humble and has great compassion for the poor. He also fights for human rights especially the women’s rights.
At the same time, he has improved international relations. He has made visits with President Obama and Xi Jinping. In his first year as PM, India realized a 7.4% GDP growth. He has a performance track record for development in Gujarat serving as Chief Minister. But he has faced accusation for failing to prevent the Gujarat’s riots in 2002.
Bill Gates, a self-made
billionaire, was born in 1955 in Seattle, Washington, US. He is a business magnate,
philanthropist, an investor, programmer and an entrepreneur. In 1975, he
cofounded Microsoft together with Paul Allen. Microsoft OS later became the
largest PC software in the world. Gates has served as Chairman, CEO and as
chief software architect at Microsoft. Until 2014, he was the individual
primary shareholder of the company. Gates has featured in the Forbes list of
the wealthiest people in the world since 1987. Bill is currently the richest
person in the world with a net worth of 78.3 billion dollars. He has appeared
first several times. But he has faced criticism over his business tactics
considered anti-competitive.
During his career at Microsoft,
he has assumed charitable acts. He has donated large sums of money. Bill &
Melinda Foundation was launched in 2000. Through it, various charitable and
research institution have benefited. At the Forbes Philanthropic Summit, his
showcased chicken coops. The goal was to show how such a business could
transform the lives of the disadvantaged in the society. In South Africa, he
gave a lecture and promised to invest $5 billion in Africa the next five years.
Gates decided
to step down as the CEO of Microsoft in 2000. He assumed the position of chief
software architect. But in 2006, he transitioned to work at Bills & Melinda
Foundation full time and part time at Microsoft. Later in 2014 he stepped down
as chairperson and assumed a new position as technology advisor. He aimed to
support the new CEO, Satya Nadella. Other than his 2.5% stake at Microsoft, he
has a stake in Deere & Co and Redmond.
Mark Elliot Zuckerberg was born
in 1984 and is an internet entrepreneur and a computer programmer. He was born
in New York and is known as the Facebook Co-founder, and he currently operates
as its CEO and chairman. As of May 2020, Mark’s net worth was estimated to
$63.3 billion and was ranked by Forbes as the 5th richest person worldwide.
From an early age, Zuckerberg has shown an interest in creating games and
working with computers, and this saw him creating several social media
platforms that would eventually lead to his biggest breakthrough, Facebook.
He was a Harvard University student in 2004, and this is the
period that he launched Facebook. In fact, he says that he launched it from his
dormitory room in the university on 4th Feb that year through the help of his
roommates and friends. They then took the idea, Facebook, to other college
campuses where it was met by a great reception, and it spread rapidly than
anticipated. By 2012, Facebook users’ number had grown to one billion, and it
never stopped. In 2010, Zuckerberg was named number one by Vanity Fair magazine
in the list of the most influential people. Before Facebook, Zuckerberg had
created several other social media platforms, but he was just doing it for fun.
And, even after launching Facebook, he still launched other platforms such as
Wirehog, Beacon, Platform and Facebook Connect.
We can say that
his love for computers has earned him more than he ever imagined and the best
part is that he never stops. He is also doing so much to help upcoming web
developers while also supporting efforts to have as many people access the
internet as possible. He has seen many law suits come his way since the launch
of Facebook, but none of it has deterred his efforts and creations. He is the
man every young web developer looks up to and he has definitely helped
reconnect many old friends.
Mohammed bin
Salman is the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, heir to his father, King Salman.
Often referred to as M.B.S., he also holds the positions of First Deputy Prime
Minister, Minister of Defense and President of the Council for Economic and
Development Affairs. Salman was named Crown Prince in 2017, after winning a
power struggle with the appointed heir. He ushered in economic and social
reforms, particularly with regard to women, but was also harshly criticized for
clamping down on critics of the Saudi royal family, and for his aggressive
foreign policy positions, which has led to disastrous conflicts with Yemen and
Qatar.
Conclusion:
The
list of the most influential people is subject to change. More and more public
figures are making their extraordinary deeds felt. Philanthropy, real
leadership, innovation and being infamous; all determine the ranking. Stay tuned
for the next list.
Images source : Google
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