Worldly People

The question of 'influence' might be the true guiding preoccupation of our time. How are we being influenced by the technology we use? Who is really influencing global affairs? How can we be sure that the influencing forces of information are accurate, real, human? Under whose influence do the politicians and powerbrokers of the day truly act? And just what will this influencer sell me next? For the vast majority of human existence, influence has been linear, coherent, almost straightforward: a power structure (for better and for worse) from high to low; from leader to led. Such simplicity sounds downright luxurious now, in a digital, late-capitalist age where cultures and societies are atomised and angry, and where information is both overwhelming in its volume and underwhelming in its quality. The following list attempts to collate the most influential people in the world today, from soft power creators to nigh-on dictators. But it also attempts to interrogate the very nature of influence in the modern moment — and to give some all-important hints about where things might go next.

What ripples did Barack Obama set in motion with that innocent joke, so many moons and scandals ago, at the White House Correspondents dinner? Now in his second term following an all-too-inevitable return, Donald Trump—his distinctive coiffure as defiant as ever—is making up for the comparative moderation of his first outing — acting with a wild impunity and heavy-handed policymaking that spans everything from economy-denting tariffs to the nigh-on invasion of sovereign nations. And while NATO may crumble and Greenland may be annexed, perhaps Trump's enduring legacy will be the impact his premiership has had on the concept of truth: once a fairly straightforward ideal, but now, combined with the hallucinations of AI, a slippery, fluid, entirely changeable thing. A sentiment remains that when/if Trump is removed at the next election, things will begin to return to 'normal.' But MAGA was not so much a creation of Donald Trump as something he channelled — perhaps the inevitable conclusion of a nation that has never really been at peace with itself, and whose working population faces increasing inequality, starkly divided values, and the creeping corporatisation of both health and happiness.

Xi Jinping has achieved his power and influence by slow accumulation, not brute force. Now in power for over a decade, with term limits erased, he is the de facto controller of almost every element of Chinese life — and, with the rapid, almost exponential industrialisation of the country, almost everything else, too. China now accounts for roughly a third of global manufacturing all on its own, while its presence in Taiwan and the South China Sea reminds the world of its latent military influence. In this way, Xi's power unfolds like his infrastructure: both steadily and rapidly, a rolling accretion rather than a pyrotechnic display — in telling contrast to the world leader who he most clearly threatens.

For Putin, war has become policy. Three years into the invasion of Ukraine, Russia has retooled its economy for endurance, normalising international sanctions and widespread condemnation as background noise — simply the price of restoring Russia to its rightful, historic empire and standing, in his eyes. As the post-Soviet ruler enters his mid-seventies, his influence over Russia is almost total (making him, by journalist Bill Browder's estimation, effectively the richest man on earth) — and thus his ability to make ripples across Europe and the world remains vast and often terrifying.

India has a population of 1.4 billion and is comfortably the world's fastest-growing major economy — a sub-continental anchor to the manufacturing prowess of China, thanks to its de facto control of the global supply-chain. Modi is a nimble and enduring presence at its head, balancing relations between Washington, Moscow, and Beijing with an uncanny deftness and the confidence of sheer demographic heft. Could the twenty-first century yet belong to India?

Though he may not feel it on a day-to-day basis, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer remains a hugely influential figure on the world stage — to some degree by dint of Britain's historic standing and 'special relationship' across the pond; but also because, perhaps, he represents something steady and relatively straightforward after several years of madcap volatility and deeply sub-par leaders. His critics will say that this is not so much stability but stolidity, and that Britain is slowly failing as a result — though his advocates will call back to the rupture of Brexit as the primary reason for the current slump: one that only Starmer, perhaps, can carefully lawyer us all out of.

Sheinbaum is a physicist by training, and is thus used to contemplating the vast and the tiny at once — which may come in useful in a booming nation of 130 million, which is nonetheless afflicted by fundamental issues on its day-to-day level. The nation's first woman president, Sheinbaum is now overseeing the surge in outsourced revenues from the US to the north — while also attempting pragmatically to improve a country wracked by both cartel violence and climate stressors.

In 2019, the now-President of Argentina turned up at the Buenos Aires Comic-Con dressed in the black-and-gold costume of his alter ego: an anarchocapitalist superhero named "General Ancap." Now, several years later, the television personality-turned-politican is leading his country with a similarly radical edge — curbing the powers of the state, slashing subsidies, floating currency controls, and courting IMF approval. And though inflation has fallen from a terrifying period in the triple digits, the economic pain of his citizens remains acute — while his unique brand and style sends a global message that eccentricity may still be the defining ballot-winner of our age.

The queen of European power seems the archetype of a bureaucratic leader: regulatory, unflashy, calm, and quietly steely. Under her watch, however, digital markets, AI rules, and climate standards drafted in Brussels have rippled outward with global effect, proving that the European bloc is still a massive force in global commerce and policy. Steady, careful, and methodical, her recent re-election is a potent counterpoint to the more radical global players of the age.

Amid war in Gaza, international pressure, and domestic protest, Netanyahu's long leadership is now pushing the limits of endurance, both personal and national. The Israeli leader's decisions and defiances reverberate dangerously through the region, but also through the world-at-large — in oil prices, questions of stability, and considerations of sovereignty, control, and humanity.

The global coronavirus pandemic may well be looked back on as the defining event of the early century. Or at least until the next one comes along. Through that lens, the Director General of the World Health Organisation is perhaps the most crucial player on the planet — the holder of a near-impossible role that nonetheless needs to be executed with decisiveness, data, and ultimately persuasion.

Thunberg remains the fixed and enduring human reference point for climate discourse — a quite unthinkable pressure for someone of such a relatively young age. The activist's stark moral clarity and unwillingness to see policy decisions diluted has seen her cast as an antagonistic figure by various powers-that-be. But with 2025 as the hottest year ever recorded, it is hard not to agree that her message must be heeded.

Mamdani's election to the New York mayoral office was quite remarkable — the youngest holder of the role in living memory; the wildcard outsider whose charisma, energy, and clarity nonetheless seemed to chime with the spirit of the times in arguably the most important city on earth. But it's Mamdani's unexpected bromance moment in Trump's Oval Office that hinted at even greater influence in the future — as a potential figure of international importance and aisle-crossing pragmatism, perhaps.

His love-in at the the Oval Office has long since ended (though tensions seem to be thawing on that front), but Musk remains a potent force in global influence — the trailblazer of electric vehicles, the front-runner in the new space race, and the commander of a broiling social network that has been significantly re-wired in his image (and increasingly that of his AI creation, Grok.)

How can you be sure this article wasn't written on ChatGPT? The fact that such a question is even poseable (and the fact that it is increasingly unanswerable) is down to the industry-leading work of OpenAi, arguably the most influential player in the new wave of influence. Altman's calm (if slightly esoteric) presence at the top of the AI field will thus be the guiding force of so much in the world — a world whose systems and processes are now changing rapidly, whether we are happy about that or not.

Facebook changes the shape of elections; Instagram changes the shape of faces. It is hard to think of a figure who has done more to influence the world in the past decade than Zuckerberg, whose company molds (and monetises) everything from current affair sentiment to standards of beauty. This is soft power and hard power combined, then — and made all the more potent for its presence in our pockets, every single day.

NVIDIA's chips have become the bottleneck through which the AI boom must pass: an unexpected status quo that has pushed the company's revenues and valuation to historic highs, and reminded the world that hardware, really, is the ultimate power — or at least its limiting factor. Huang's governance will thus shape the next decade of growth and technology and even policy worldwide — a vast and defining empire built on tiny slithers of silicon.

It seems only natural that the company synonymous with search should have been a lead player in Artificial Intelligence — but Google, in many ways, was a laggard in the field. Under Pichai's re-doubled efforts, however, the company's Gemini engine looks to be a truly influential force for the future — while the present (and the way we perceive it) is constantly being shaped by the algorithmic calibrations and many long tendrils of the Google empire.

Nadella has overseen a remarkable resurgence in Microsoft's fortunes, wisely focusing on cloud computing and embracing the march of AI. This is the role the original tech firm has now settled into in its maturity: one not of radicalism and headlines, but pragmatic decision-making, subtle integration, and far-reaching co-operation. Does the 'soft' in Microsoft now stand for soft power?

There's over $10 trillion under management over at Blackrock — a near unthinkable number which gives its longtime CEO massive leverage over markets, corporations, and even governmental policy, from climate to big tech. Fink has now taken over the reins at the Davos World Economic Forum, too — making him, effectively, the king among kings.

Is Dario Amodei the calmest man in the room? While the AI arms race threatens to spin out of control, the CEO of Anthropic is advocating soberly for systems that exist at a much more human level — prioritising naturalness, interpretability, and ultimately backstops and constraints. How important might such a worldview prove to be in ten, twenty, or thirty years time?

Palantir's software has now insinuated itself into all elements of state-level decision-making — from military logistics to intelligence analysis and data-modelling. A contrarian (and sometimes oddball) figure, its leader Karp positions himself as the sort of philosopher king of the surveillance age, who more and more leaders will call on for his dark-state analysis — even if some say the wider cost is our personal privacy.

Another chip-maker who has not so much ridden the AI train as been the tracks on which it now races. AMD's fortunes have transformed rapidly under Su, who moved the hardware firm from underdog to central player — boosting its share price over 50-fold in a few short years. An engineer by training, she understands the importance of building things from the ground up and of getting the fundamentals right: when prototype chips get delivered from the factory, Su is said to often personally visit the lab to scrutinize them.

While many tech and AI companies are desperate to find the uses (or monetisations, perhaps) of artificial intelligence, DeepMind's obsession is into the nature of intelligence itself. This has led them down interesting and important alleyways — like the creation of a computer that could beat humans at Go, the most complex game known to man; and the invention of AlphaFold, an AI system which accurately predicts protein structures, for which Hassabis won a Nobel Prize in 2024.

Swift's recent Eras tour was certainly a tour for the ages: the first to ever gross over $2 billion in ticket sales, with more than 10 million attendees worldwide — stats that easily doubled the record up till that point. She is, in this way, a sort of economy or industry unto herself — while the constant intrigue over her personal life (stoked by the cryptic, pointed lyrics in her bestselling albums) lends her a cultural ubiquity that feels from another age.

It is a testament, perhaps, to Winfrey's enduring influence (and to the things America values, too) that her name is mentioned as a possible contender at almost every major election in the US. Her far-reaching power — even now; even in an atomised world — is remarkable, with a cultural prominence that is often segued nimbly into political or activist sway, in causes spanning education, disaster relief, and equality.

The flame-haired boy from Suffolk may yet prove to be the UK's finest export: a performer whose songs are streamed in the hundreds of billions, whose record-busting tours are overshadowed only by the unassailable Swift, and whose lyrics remain somehow both intimate and universal. A songwriter for many other notable artists, Sheeran's melodic, thoughtful influence touches billions of people everyday.

Frequently cited as the top earning actor in the world, Johansson has neatly parlayed her status as an indie muse into the box-office heft of the all-powerful Marvel universe. But it's her more unsung activism away from the screen that makes her stand out among the glitter of Hollywood — work that focuses on both actor/ creator/ worker rights (how important will that be in the AI era?) and issues of gender equality.

Defining a cultural moment is one thing; defining an entirely new colour is another. For a period recently it seemed like the entire world was dancing under the heady, intoxicating influence of the Brat star, whose honesty and individualism truly resonated with people in a period of algorithmic blandness. Now branching out into film as much as music, Charli XCX is set to be a dominant (and gratifyingly authentic) force in culture for the foreseeable future.

Fusing flamenco roots with urban and experimental sounds, Rosalía's chief power has been in exporting the riches of Spanish culture to a global audience. Her recent (incredibly successful) album has been hailed as a high-water mark of not simply Latin American music but pop music in general — experimental and yet approachable; grand and vast and yet personal. A beacon of uniqueness in a creative world that can too often defaults towards safety.

Lamar's internet-breaking Superbowl performance cemented him as the modern king of rap, following a summer of cultural ubiquity which reminded all of us of the strangely uniting power of beef. His music performs that rare trick of being both high literature and delicious pop music — catchy and infectious, resonant and deep, and often charged with political import.

Perhaps the most resounding style tastemaker of her time, Miuccia Prada has used her exacting aesthetic eye to ensure elegance, warmth, and life lives on in the sometimes self-serious and austere world of the runway. A global leader in trends, tastes, and thus how people spend their hard-earned money, her quiet influence extends to that highest and most ineffable of spheres: an individual's sense of status, social capital, and ultimately personality.

For better or for worse, Rogan is a latter-day kingmaker, whose undoubted influence over the sprawling, broiling American mind has made him a figure of curiosity, acclaim — and often controversy. Consistently the highest performing podcaster in the world, Rogan is seen by many as a one man industry, whose longform conversations platform individuals and their views with a cultural cut-through that traditional media can very rarely compete with.

With that wise, ancient, unmistakable voice, it sometimes seems that Attenborough is speaking for the very planet itself — and campaigning movingly for its ongoing existence while he does so. His remarkable films about nature and the environment have done more than almost anyone else to shape both personal consciousnesses and governmental policy — poignant and potent realisations of the BBC's lasting credo to "inform, educate, and entertain."

Beckham has always been a master of self-branding, with a distinctive personality (and overawing talent) on the pitch that made him feel destined for even bigger things off it. As one half of surely Britain's most significant power couple, he is an enduring presence in public and cultural life — while his ownership of Inter Miami FC means he has been instrumental in the upswing of football in the US. Beloved by brands and unafraid to merchandise himself, Beckham is probably the most influential former footballer on the planet.

Will the history books record Messi as the greatest footballer of all time? With a remarkable World Cup triumph now under his belt, and a bursting trophy cabinet with FC Barcelona, it is hard to argue against his supremacy (though one man, as we shall see, certainly would). But the way in which Messi plays almost seems more important than the things he has achieved — the most skillful and magical to ever do it; an endlessly creative figure whose small size was his strength, not his weakness, and whose sheer determination and energy make him completely irresistible to watch. (And, if we're being mercenary about it, completely irresistible to advertisers and brands, too.)

Can there be two GOATs? The debate over football's greatest son will rage long after Ronaldo (and his rival Messi) has retired — a testament to the Portuguese player's resounding dominance of the world's favourite pastime. His reach off the pitch, meanwhile, is quite literally unparalleled: not just the most followed sportsperson on the planet on social media — but the most followed person full stop.

They call him King James — a titan of the court in every sense. A born winner, LeBron's championship victories continue to pile up — as do his successes in entrepreneurship, not least in the fiercely competitive world of streaming. With a resonant voice that shapes debates on social justice, media consumption, and youth initiatives, he is proving to be a genuinely regal figure whose influence will long outlast his time on the court.

Biles is the most decorated gymnast in history, with over 40 combined World and Olympic medals to her name. Her influence is felt in the several game-changing moves and maneuvers that have been named after her, yes — but also in her staunch and continued advocacy of mental health: a powerful figure shaping what we understand about human limits, both physical and mental.

Twenty-three major singles titles; 14 women's doubles titles; four Olympic gold medals; and a record 186 consecutive weeks at the top of the WTA rankings — Serena (and she goes by the one name, like all true greats) is a complete titan of the sport. She triumphantly changed the way the game is played, with her mammoth endurance and powerful serve — but also the way it is perceived, with a steely confidence paired with a fiery competitiveness. Now retired, it is undoubted that her successes will continue to pile up off the court, too.