TEMASEK Holdings CEO Ho Ching has dropped 25 places from No. 5
in last year's Forbes Magazine's World's Most Powerful Women list
to 30th place this year.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who topped the list last year,
also fell to 4th spot this year, while US first lady Michelle
Obama, who ranked No. 40, is now the Most Powerful Woman.
This is likely due to Forbes changing the way it ranks women,
basing this year's list less on wealth and power and more on
creative input and entrepreneurship. It also grouped women into
various categories, such as politics, business, and lifestyle.
In Forbes' 2010 ranking of the world's 100 most influential
women, Ms Ho, wife of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, came in 10th
in the Business category.
Forbes said on its website that 'speculation remained as to
whether Ho would remain CEO', after Temasek Holdings 'hired and
promoted several high-level executives to support her.'
It also implied that the departure of Charles Goodyear, who had
initially been brought in to succeed Ms Ho in 2009, had an effect
on this year's ranking.
Kraft Foods Chief Executive Irene Rosenfeld, who led a hostile
US$18 billion takeover of Britain's Cadbury, came in second,
followed by talk show host and media mogul Oprah Winfrey, who is
ending 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' next year after 25 years to launch
her cable network OWN.
