Forbes ranks King Abdullah one of “world’s most powerful people”

Riyadh, Asharq Al-Awsat – “Forbes” magazine has chosen Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz, as one of the “world’s most powerful people.”  The US magazine ranked the Saudi monarch the sixth most powerful person in the world.  King Abdullah was the fifth highest ranking world leader in the Forbes “world’s most powerful people” list, after US President Barack Obama, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Hu Jintao, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.  Microsoft chairman Bill Gates was ranked fifth most powerful person in the world by Forbes.  Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz was ranked more powerful than Pope Benedict XVI, British Prime Minister David Cameron, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

The Forbes magazine profile of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz lists him as “one of the world’s few remaining absolute monarchs.”  The Forbes profile adds that “King Abdullah has continued to pursue an agenda of moderate reform in the desert kingdom that contains 20 percent of the world’s known oil reserves and Islam’s two holiest sites.”  The Forbes profile also reveals that King Abdullah “recently granted women the right to vote in local elections” and that he has spent “more than $130 billion on social projects” in Saudi Arabia.

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz, is the highest ranked Middle Eastern or Islamic leader on the Forbes list of “world’s most powerful people.”  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is the next highest ranking Middle Eastern leader, being ranked 25th most powerful person in the world by Forbes, whilst Iranian Supreme Guide Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was ranked 26th.  Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi was ranked 41st, whilst UAE President Khalifa Bin Zayed al-Nahyan was ranked 53rd.