It’s the list of all lists.
Excuse the pun, but the time has come for ‘TIME’ magazine to reveal their top 100 most influential people list for 2020. The key word to remember when judging this batch is influential—whether you like them or not—if they have power and used it this year, you’re likely to find their names in this group.
If you haven’t heard of this listicle before, the first edition was published back in 1999 and became an annual occurrence from 2004. These people are handpicked by TIME’s editors, alumni and international writing staff to provide a wholesome view of those who impacted the world in all sorts of ways.
‘TIME 100’ editorial director Dan Macsai describes this as not only a list, but “a community of hundreds of leaders from across the years and around the world whose visions can guide us and whose achievements can bring us hope.”
Although the piece usually features household-names such as politicians and entertainers, this year has also embraced all that 2020 has thrown at us. Since the first year of this decade has been met with challenges no one would’ve been able to foresee, individuals that made a difference in response to these events have been given a deserving spot. These include pioneers of the Black Lives Matter movements, people providing aid during the coronavirus pandemic, and many more fighting to better our world. Another notable aspect is that for the first time ever, the list features 54 women—an all-time record.
What makes this even more exciting is that each recipient has a bio written about them by other well-known figures. For example, The Weeknd’s description is penned by Elton John and Jimmy Kimmel’s words were used for Anthony Fauci.
This year’s list is as follows:
PIONEERS:
Megan Thee Stallion
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Ibram X. Kendi
Nathan Law
Tomi Adeyemi
Astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir
Julie K. Brown
Cecilia Martinez
Maya Moore
Chase Strangio
Zhang Yongzhen
Tourmaline
Waad al-Kateab
Abubacarr Tambadou
Gabriela Cámara
Camilla Rothe
Rebecca Gomperts
Ravindra Gupta
Lauren Gardner
Shi Zhengli
Shiori Ito
Artists:
The Weeknd
Ali Wong
Michael B. Jordan
Selena Gomez
J Balvin
JoJo Siwa
Halsey
Phoebe Waller-Bridge
Jennifer Hudson
Yo-Yo Ma
Dapper Dan
Anaïs Mitchell
Michaela Coel
Bong Joon Ho
LASTESIS
Julie Mehretu
Ayushmann Khurrana
LEADERS:
Anthony Fauci
Kamala Harris
Tsai Ing-wen
John Roberts
Xi Jinping
Donald Trump
Caesar
Angela Merkel
Joe Biden
Jair Bolsonaro
Nancy Pelosi
Narendra Modi
William Barr
Anne Hidalgo
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
Mary Kay Henry
Nemonte Nenquimo
Ursula von der Leyen
Jung Eun-kyeong
Bonnie Castillo
Jean-Jacques Muyembe Tamfum
Yousef Al Otaiba
TITANS:
Gabrielle Union
Dwyane Wade
Sundar Pichai
Tyler Perry
MacKenzie Scott
Robert F. Smith
Lewis Hamilton
Jerome Powell
Eric Yuan
Patrick Mahomes
Claire Babineaux-Fontenot
Greg Berlanti
Shari Redstone
Tony Elumelu
Zhong Nanshan
Kristalina Georgieva
Lisa Nishimura
General Charles Q. Brown Jr
Daniel Zhang
Gwynne Shotwell
Tunji Funsho
ICONS:
Amy O’Sullivan
Black Lives Matter Founders Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi
Ady Barkan
Billy Porter
Naomi Osaka
Angela Davis
Chi Chia-wei
Megan Rapinoe
Felipe Neto
Allyson Felix
Sister Norma Pimentel
David Hill
Arussi Unda
Nury Turkel
Lina Attalah
Bilkis
To see the original ‘Time 100’ for 2020, check out this link.
