The 2009 TIME 100

In our annual TIME 100 issue, we do the impossible: name the people who most affect our world

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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