| 2000 Rankings |
1999 |
1998 |
| 1.
Li Ka-shing Chairman, Cheung
Kong Holdings |
9 |
25 |
| 2.
Jiang Zemin President of
China; General Secretary of the Communist Party of China |
3 |
2 |
| 3.
Idei Nobuyuki Chairman (Designate)
and Chief Executive Officer, Sony Corp. |
15 |
16 |
| 4.
Kim Dae Jung President of
the Republic of Korea |
1 |
4 |
| 5.
Kim Jong Il Secretary-General
of the Worker's Party of Korea |
4 |
15 |
| 6.
Chen Shui-bian* President
of Taiwan |
-- |
-- |
| 7.
Abdurrahman Wahid President
of Indonesia |
23 |
-- |
| 8.
Son Masayoshi Founder and
President, Softbank Corp |
30 |
-- |
| 9.
A.B. Vajpayee Prime Minister
of India |
40 |
5 |
| 10.
Zhu Rongji Premier of the
State Council of China |
1 |
3 |
| 11.
Goh Chok Tong Prime Minister
of Singapore |
6 |
7 |
| 12.
Chuan Leekpai Prime Minister
and Defense Minister of Thailand |
7 |
13 |
| 13.
Mahathir Mohamad Prime
Minister of Malaysia |
14 |
10 |
| 14.
Richard Li* Chairman and
CEO, Pacific Century Group |
-- |
-- |
| 15.
Azim Premji* Chairman
Wipro Corp. |
-- |
-- |
| 16.
Lee Hun Jai Minister of
Finance and Economy of South Korea |
16 |
-- |
| 17.
Mori Yoshiro* Prime Minister
of Japan |
-- |
-- |
| 18.
Lee Hsien Loong Deputy
Prime Minister, Singapore; Chairman, Monetary Authority of Singapore |
18 |
39 |
| 19.
Hu Jintao Vice President,
China |
36 |
28 |
| 20.
Zeng Qinghong* Chief of
the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee Organization Dept. |
-- |
-- |
| 21.
Miyazawa Kiichi Finance
Minister, Japan |
24 |
-- |
| 22.
Lee Hoi Chang* President,
Grand National Party, South Korea |
-- |
-- |
| 23.
Lee Kuan Yew Senior Minister,
Singapore |
21 |
19 |
| 24.
Joseph Estrada President
of the Philippines |
13 |
29 |
| 25.
Gen. Pervez Musharraf*
Chief of Army Staff and Military Ruler of Pakistan |
-- |
-- |
| 26.
Zhang Wannian† Vice
Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party Central Military Commission |
-- |
-- |
| 27.
Hun Sen Prime Minister,
Cambodia |
22 |
24 |
| 28.
Lee Teng-hui Former President
of Taiwan |
5 |
8 |
| 29.
Daim Zainuddin Finance
Minister, Malaysia |
17 |
27 |
| 30.
Abdul Hadi Awang* Deputy
President, PAS |
-- |
-- |
| 31.
Dhirubhai Ambani†
Chairman of Reliance Industries |
-- |
44 |
| 32.
Li Peng Chairman, National
People's Congress, China |
37 |
20 |
| 33.
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
Deputy PM and Home Minister, Malaysia |
48 |
-- |
| 34.
Thaksin Shinawatra†
Leader, Thai Rak Thai Party, Thailand |
-- |
-- |
| 35.
Lee Kun Hee Chairman,
Samsung Group |
44 |
41 |
| 36.
Amien Rais Chairman, People's
Consultative Assembly |
35 |
-- |
| 37.
Ishihara Shintaro* Governor
of Tokyo |
-- |
-- |
| 38.
Li Hongzhi Leader, Falungong |
49 |
-- |
| 39.
Wen Jiabao* Vice-premier
of the State Council |
-- |
-- |
| 40.
Narayana Murthy* Chairman
and CEO, Infosys Technologies |
-- |
-- |
| 41.
J. Augusto Zobel de Ayala†
President and CEO Ayala Corp. |
-- |
45 |
| 42.
Rupert Murdoch Chairman
and CEO, News Corp. |
20 |
6 |
| 43.
John Dodsworth* Indonesia
Representative, IMF |
-- |
-- |
| 44.
Megawati Sukarnoputri
Vice President, Indonesia |
26 |
-- |
| 45.
Eduardo Cojuangco Jr.*
Chairman and CEO, San Miguel Corp. |
-- |
-- |
| 46.
Hassanal Bolkiah Sultan
of Brunei |
25 |
11 |
| 47.
Lucio Tan Airline, Beer,
Cigarette and Banking Tycoon |
34 |
-- |
| 48.
Velupillai Prabhakaran*
Founder and Leader, Tamil Tigers |
-- |
-- |
| 49.
Chandrika Kumaratunga
President of Sri Lanka |
43 |
40 |
| 50.
Xanana Gusmao* Leader,
East Timor |
-- |
-- |
| * New to list † Returns to list |
Photo montage by Adam Connors
