The 2009 TIME 100

Full List

Leaders & Revolutionaries

  1. Edward Kennedy
  2. Gordon Brown
  3. Christine Lagarde
  4. Thomas Dart
  5. Avigdor Lieberman
  6. Joaquín Guzmán
  7. Nouri al-Maliki
  8. Hillary Clinton
  9. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
  10. Boris Johnson
  11. Norah al-Faiz
  12. Elizabeth Warren
  13. Paul Kagame
  14. Nicolas Sarkozy
  15. Angela Merkel
  16. Wang Qishan
  17. Xi Jinping
  18. David McKiernan
  19. Ashfaq Kayani
  20. Barack Obama

Builders & Titans

  1. The Twitter Guys
  2. T. Boone Pickens
  3. Ted Turner
  4. Tessa Ross
  5. Carlos Slim
  6. Brad Pitt
  7. Meredith Whitney
  8. Suze Orman
  9. Lauren Zalaznick
  10. Timothy Geithner
  11. Nandan Nilekani
  12. Stella McCartney
  13. Jamie Dimon
  14. Sheila Bair
  15. moot
  16. Alexander Medvedev
  17. Alan Mulally
  18. Robin Chase
  19. Jack Ma
  20. Bernie Madoff

Artists & Entertainers

  1. Rush Limbaugh
  2. M.I.A.
  3. Sam and Dan Houser
  4. Kate Winslet
  5. Werner Herzog
  6. William Kentridge
  7. Penélope Cruz
  8. Lang Lang
  9. John Legend
  10. Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio
  11. Gustavo Dudamel
  12. Jeff Kinney
  13. Tavis Smiley
  14. The View
  15. Zac Efron
  16. Tina Fey
  17. Tom Hanks
  18. Jay Leno
  19. A.R. Rahman
  20. Judith Jamison

Heroes & Icons

  1. Michelle Obama
  2. Chesley B. Sullenberger
  3. Richard Phillips
  4. Seth Berkley
  5. Michael Eavis
  6. Leonard Abess
  7. Hadizatou Mani
  8. Rick Warren
  9. Van Jones
  10. Somaly Mam
  11. Rafael Nadal
  12. Suraya Pakzad
  13. Jeff Bezos
  14. Tiger Woods
  15. George Clooney
  16. Brady Gustafson
  17. Sister Mary Scullion
  18. Oprah Winfrey
  19. Sarah Palin
  20. Manny Pacquiao

Scientists & Thinkers

  1. Nouriel Roubini
  2. Amory Lovins
  3. Jon Favreau
  4. Dambisa Moyo
  5. Dan Barber
  6. Yoichiro Nambu
  7. Roland Fryer
  8. Martin Lindstrom
  9. Barbara Hogan
  10. David Sheff
  11. Steven Chu
  12. Paul Krugman
  13. Connie Hedegaard
  14. Daniel Nocera
  15. Stephan Schuster and Webb Miller
  16. Nicholas Christakis
  17. Doug Melton
  18. Paul Ekman
  19. Shai Agassi
  20. Nate Silver

Videos

  1. The TIME 100 Gala in 100 Seconds
  2. The 2009 TIME 100 Red Carpet
  3. M.I.A. Makes the TIME 100
  4. Heroes & Icons
  5. World Leaders
  6. American Leaders
  7. The Artists

The Stein 100

  1. And No. 1 Is...
  2. Joel Stein Ranks the TIME 100
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The People Behind the People

A peek at the circles of influence for this year's TIME 100

Video

The TIME 100 Gala in 100 Seconds

TIME celebrated the world's most influential people at a star-studded party in New York, where First Lady Michelle Obama was the featured guest

Video

The 2009 TIME 100 Red Carpet

Our correspondents ask some of the world's most influential people some really ridiculous questions

Video

M.I.A. Makes the TIME 100

Producer, DJ, singer, fashion designer. Sri Lankan pop star M.I.A. has global influence across many genres. That put her on this year's TIME 100

Video

Heroes & Icons

TIME Editor-at-Large Belinda Luscombe and Movie Critic Richard Corliss discuss some of the heroes and icons on this year's TIME 100 list

Video

World Leaders

TIME International Editor Michael Elliott discusses three of the many world leaders featured on the TIME's list of the world's most influential people

Video

American Leaders

TIME Deputy Managing Editor Romesh Ratnesar discusses some of the magazine's choices for U.S. political leaders on this year's TIME 100

Video

The Artists

TIME Deputy Managing Editor Josh Tyrangiel & writer Richard Lacayo discuss some of the many influential artists on this year's TIME 100 list

TIME 100 Poll

Your Results

See who was victorious in getting your votes this year

More Stories

And No. 1 Is...

By Joel Stein

I've ranked the TIME 100 based on the importance of their contributions. Their contributions to me

Joel Stein Ranks the TIME 100

By Joel Stein

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