With Angela Merkel and our Hillary Clinton topping the ridiculously unbalanced
Forbes list of 100 Most Powerful Women, I did not have much hope for a more serious list of
Most Powerful Couples of 2012.
I was not wrong. The Clintons top the list with the Gateses #2 and the
Obamas #3, but beyond #5, Diane Sawyer and Mike Nichols, this list is
as wildly incoherent as the list of powerful women - maybe more so.
Here is
the gallery.
One might argue that this is a more difficult list to develop since both
members must exert power, but like the 100 Most Powerful Women list,
this one is most eloquent in who is missing. Where are foundation
head
Cherie and Quartet Envoy
Tony Blair? They are less important than entertainers, models, and sports figures?
Seriously?
Shakira and Gerard Pique? Gisele Bundchen and Tom Brady? They merit
appearing on this list? Beyonce and Jay-Z outrank Christane Amanpour
and Jaimie Rubin, Diane Von Furstenberg and Barry Diller,
AND Tina
Brown and Harold Evans? Why Ellen DeGeneres and Portia? Where is the
"Portia power?" Seems they were gratuitously included just to have a
gay couple there, but to rank them above Tina Brown whose
Newsweek endorsed Romney a few days ago and Evans, whose September
Condé Nast Traveler features in depth coverage of a tour of Asia by the secretary of state seems patently ridiculous.
Forbes, please be serious. We love seeing our Clintons honored, but give it some heft.
Jenna Goudreau, Forbes Staff
Who says women can’t have it all? On the 2012 FORBES list of the world’s 100 most powerful women,
70% are married, with an average 2.1 kids. Often, these women don’t do
it alone. Some have the help of extended family or a stay-at-home
husband. Others marry their power equals and scramble to make it work.
Here’s a look at the world’s most powerful couples, and what it takes to
house two top careers under one roof.
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton and current U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
together form the world’s top power pair. Hillary, the second most
powerful woman in the world, made history as one of a handful of women
to ever run for U.S. president. In her current role, she is the nation’s
chief foreign advisor and is constantly on the go, traveling to over 40
countries in 2012 alone. Meanwhile, Bill served two presidential terms
as ruler of the world’s largest economy and remains an active diplomat
today.
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