USA/FILE: Time Magazine unveils its list of the 100 Most Influential People.

Record ID: 899241

  • Title: USA/FILE: Time Magazine unveils its list of the 100 Most Influential People.
  • Date: 19th April 2012
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) RADHIKA JONES, TIME EXECUTIVE EDITOR, SAYING: "One of the people whose name came up sort of midway through the process, who I think a lot of the women in the office were delighted by, is Sara Blakely who is the founder of Spanx, which we may or may not be wearing at this time, and I think she became America's youngest female self-made billionaire and you know she started this company with a 5,000 dollar business plan. And we just thought 'Wow. This is a big milestone for her' and it was sort of fun to put her on the list say, 'Hey, this is a mogul who maybe is a little bit unexpected in that category."
  • Embargoed: 4th May 2012 14:41
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: People
  • Reuters ID: LVAA9XV72I5ICUNBPXN6941H13VG
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: What do U.S. President Barack Obama, Pippa Middleton and Jeremy Lin have in common? They are among the people who made Time's list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World.
    The list is Time magazine's yearly snapshot of who is wielding power in areas including politics, business and entertainment.
    "One of the challenges, but rewards of this list I find in putting it together is that influence is sort of a fuzzy concept. It's pretty of subjective. It's not a list of the people with the most money in the world. It's not a list of people with the highest, most prestigious job titles in the world. Some of those people are on this list, but we're also looking at people who are just paradigm shifters in their fields. So, you can be an influential actress if you are sort of breaking new ground in the field of drama. You can be an influential president if you are Barack Obama obviously, but you can also be an activist, a philanthropist, you know people who are doing grassroots kind of work. We're interested in as broad a concept of influence as we can come up with," said Radhika Jones, an executive editor at Time.
    The diverse list of influential people includes, Actor Viola Davis, FC Barcelona football player Lionel Messi, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde, President of Brazil Dilma Rousseff, President of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, Rihanna, Adele, New York Knicks Point Guard Jeremy Lin, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Activist/Blogger Alexei Navalny.
    Also included among the political leaders is China's Vice President Xi Jinping.
    "Xi Jinping, who is the heir apparent in China. A big transition of leadership in China each year and people are really looking to see how he will lead. We don't know a lot about how that will happen yet, but we want to direct people's attention to not just the people who are leaders now, but people who are rising," said Jones.
    Another rising star in politics, according to Time is Jamaica's Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller.
    "It's the 50th anniversary of Jamaica's independence and the Prime Minster there is pushing even harder for a dissolution of ties with the British Commonwealth. She is also really advancing the ball on gay rights in Jamaica, which is a very thorny issue. And again, we thought we want people to know that this work is happening, that her influence in the region is on the ascent and that these are important stories that are being told in the world today and these are the personalities through whom they are being told," said Jones.
    There are 54 international figures from 37 countries on the list. The list also includes 38 women.
    Also among the women is Spanx founder, Sara Blakely, who has reshaped women around the globe with her form flattering undergarments.
    "Sara Blakely who is the founder of Spanx... and I think she became America's youngest female self-made billionaire and you know she started this company with a 5,000 dollar business plan. And we just thought 'Wow. This is a big milestone for her' and it was sort of fun to put her on the list say, 'Hey, this is a mogul who maybe is a little bit unexpected in that category.'"
    Included in the category of icons are pop singer Adele and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and her sister Pippa.
    According to Jones, the Middleton sisters offer a different type of celebrity.
    "I think what puts them on a list like this one is really their role as style icons. They literally move merchandise. They are sort of powerful economic figures in that way quite aside from Kate being one of the most photographed women in the world now. They also, it's interesting and I would say this particularly of the Duchess of Cambridge, they embody a different kind of celebrity. They are not tweeting 24-7. They do not have a reality show. Maybe those things will come, but for now we are intrigued by them... We may not love the fact that they are influential, but I think it's hard to deny it."
    This is Time's ninth list of "The 100 Most Influential People in the World".
    The double issue hit newsstands on April 18.
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