Forbes magazine lists Obama most powerful

WASHINGTON, Nov. 12 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama emerged as the world's most powerful man in Forbes magazine's assessment of the world's most powerful people released Thursday.

Other people making the eclectic list include Wal-Mart Chief Executive Officer Mike Duke at No. 8, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin at No. 3, Pope Benedict XVI at No. 11, Mexican drug lord Joaquin Guzman at No. 41 and media personality Oprah Winfrey at No. 45.

In compiling its first World's Most Powerful People list, magazine editors asked whether a person has influence over lots of other people, reviewed the financial resources controlled by the individual and determined if the individual was powerful in multiple spheres, Forbes said.

The magazine listed 67 people, one for every 100 million people on the planet, saying, "This ranking is intended to be the beginning of a conversation, not the final word."

The Top 10 most powerful people are:

-- Obama

-- Chinese President Hu Jintao

-- Putin

-- U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke

-- Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page

-- Mexican telecommunications mogul Carlos Slim Helu

-- Media owner Rupert Murdoch

-- Duke

-- Saudi Arabian Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud

-- Microsoft founder Bill Gates