Taylor Swift has been deemed one of the world’s most influential ladies after making the Forbes Power Women List for first time.
The ‘Bad Blood’ singer has made her debut in the annual rankings, comprised by the business bible, which has been topped by German Chancellor Angela Merkel for the fifth time in a row.
Forbes selects entrants to the 100-strong list who are the “performers, tastemakers, executives and entrepreneurs who are making an impact” across the globe and the “criteria is based on the reach of each woman’s influence and relevance, and ranked by money and media momentum” as well each individuals commitment to “use their celebrity to better the lives of people around the world through philanthropy or humanitarian efforts”.
Taylor is placed at number 65 and has been selected for several reasons, including her brave decision to pull all her music from online streaming service Spotify which led to her latest album ‘1989’ achieving the largest first week sales of any LP on the Billboard 200 chart since 2002 and her influence on social media as she has 58 million followers on Twitter.
Taylor also became a spokesperson for the New York Tourism Board and is donating all proceeds from her track ‘Welcome To New York’ to public schools in the city, already giving $50,000 to the Department of Education in February.
Other celebrity entrants include Sofia Vergara at number 57, who is the highest-earning actress on television, talk show host Ellen DeGeneres at number 50 and 54th placed Angelina Jolie, who was selected for her brave decision to go public with her cancer operations and work as a UN Special Envoy.
Other notable entrants include US Presidential candidate Hilary Clinton at number two, US Federal Reserve head Janet Yellen in fourth place, Philanthropist Melinda Gates – co-chairman of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation – at number three and Queen Elizabeth II, who has appeared in every list since it began, at 41.
Forbes Power Women List top 10:
1 Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany
2 Hillary Rodham Clinton, US Presidential candidate
3 Melinda Gates, co-chairman Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
4 Janet Yellen, US Federal Reserve Bank Chair
5 Mary Barra, General Motors chief executive,
6 Christine Lagarde, International Monetary Fund managing director
7 Dilma Rousseff, Brazil President
8 Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook chief operation officer
9 Susan Wojcicki, YouTube chief executive
10 Michelle Obama, American First Lady
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