Newsmakers across the globe

Vladimir Putin President, Russia: Be it with his macho antics or his belligerent stance towards Ukraine (from which he seized Crimea), he has managed to stay in the news (and power, thanks to his political jugglery). He has also used his pets to stamp his superiority over world leaders. Ask Angela Merkel

Barack Obama President, United States: The first black US President received the Nobel Peace Prize early in his presidency. Since then, he has eliminated Osama bin Laden, ended the war in Iraq, signed the Dodd-Frank Act to regulate the financial sector, en­d­ed the Cuban blockade and reoriented policy to focus on the Asia-Pacific

Angela Merkel Chancellor, Germany: The first woman chancellor of Germany, she is often called the de facto leader of Europe, and has led the region through crises. She believes, if the Euro fails, Europe fails. To stay true to this, she regularly meets with Vladimir Putin,despite not being particularly fond of him

Shinzo Abe Prime Minister, Japan: He is well into the third year of his second term, in a country which has seen a procession of PMs since he resigned his first term in September 2007. His economic policies, dubbed Abenomics, have pumped billions into the economy, which expanded at an annualised rate of one per cent in the third quarter

Xi Jinping President, China: Forbes says, according to some, he is the most powerful ruler since Mao Zedong. He has fought against corruption, refor­m­­ed the military, pushed for Chinese in­v­­estment abroad and made various se­c­u­rity and economic alliances. He has a strong public persona and during a recent trip to the US and UK, garnered $46 billion in trade and investments

Steve Jobs Co-founder & ex-CEO, Apple: The technology entrepreneur ushered in the home computer revolution, besides building the most valuable company in the world. Under his stewardship, Apple came out with the Mac, iPod, iPhone and iPad. He was mourned the world over after his death in 2011

Jack Ma Founder & Chairman, Alibaba: The former English teacher whose Alibaba Group’s $21.8-billion IPO set the record for the world’s biggest public stock offering, is also a very smart investor. After his e-commerce group faced allegations of selling counterfeit goods, he hired a former Apple executive to fix it

Larry Page & Sergey Brin Co-founders, Google: Operating out of a dorm room in the last century, the founders would have scarcely believed that the misspelt name of their search engine would one day find place as a verb in the English lexicon. Besides search, Google is also behind Android and driv­e­r­less cars, among a host of other things

Mark Zuckerberg Co-founder and CEO, Facebook: What he began in a dorm is now the world’s most popular social network. Once the world’s youngest billionaire, he has put his energies behind bringing the internet to everyone. However, his project, called Free Basics, has run into trouble in some countries, including India, for alleged violation of the principle of net neutrality

Melinda & Bill Gates Co-chairs, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: The Microsoft founder and his wife co-founded the organisation, involved in philanthropic activities and social causes. In 2006, Warren Buffett pledged $30 billion to the foundation while earlier this year Bill Gates pledged $1 billion of his personal fortune to develop green energy

Warren Buffett CEO, Berkshire Hathaway: The “Oracle of Omaha” is not only known as one of the savviest investors in the world, but also for his philanthropy, giving away a chunk of his wealth. In 2015, at the age of 85, Buffett pulled off his biggest deal ever, with Berkshire buying Precision Castparts, which makes aerospace and industrial parts, for as much as $37 billion