Barack Obama has deposed Bill Gates from his position as world’s most admired man for the first time since YouGov first started asking in 2014.
Michelle Obama holds on to her position as world’s most admired woman, having ended Angelina Jolie’s run of dominance last year. Jolie herself has risen one place since last year to second, with Queen Elizabeth II also rising one rank to become the world’s third most admired female.
Gates has only slipped one rank, with his fall potentially coming as a result of rumours that he is in some way involved in the spread of COVID-19. Chinese president Xi Jinping finds himself in third place once again, having previously held that position from 2015-2017.
countries and territories being interviewed to compile the list.
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has seen the greatest increase since last time, climbing four places from 13th to ninth. Human rights campaigner Malala Yousafzai has fallen farthest, tumbling eight places from 6th to 14th.
Entertainers dominate the female list, with 12 of the most admired women being actresses, singers or TV presenters (although some, like Emma Watson and Angelina Jolie, are also notable for their humanitarian work). By contrast, the list of most admired men contains more people from political, business and sporting backgrounds.
The results are calculated from the combination of responses to two questions – whether a respondent admires the figure at all and then whether they are the figure the respondent admires the most. Each nation’s results in the global compilation are also weighted to represent the country’s population size. (Full methodology is available below)
New additions to the top twenties this year include environment campaigner Greta Thunberg, pop stars Jennifer Lopez, Beyoncé and Shakira, actors Keanu Reeves and Scarlett Johansson, sportsmen Michael Jordan and Virat Kohli, Indonesian president Joko Widodo, and Indian charity head Sudha Murty.
Barack Obama is more admired than Donald Trump in every country, except one
Barack Obama’s rise in the rankings is mirrored by Donald Trump’s fall, with the current US president slipping one spot to 15th place globally.
The former president tops the global list in 22 of the 42 countries and territories surveyed, including the USA. Trump performs best in the US (coming 2nd), South Africa (3rd) and Vietnam (3rd), but only ranks ahead of Obama in one country: Russia, where he places 11th to Obama’s 15th.
Who is the GOAT, according to World’s Most Admired?
The results show that football’s greatest rivalry continues to be won by Cristiano Ronaldo, ranked as the world’s 6th most admired man, compared to 11th for competitor Lionel Messi.
Ronaldo ranks higher than Messi in 32 of the 42 countries and territories surveyed, and has led his opponent in the last three global studies.