[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has been named the most influential woman in the world this year.
On the 7th (local time), the American economic media Forbes ranked Scott as number one on the '2021 World's 100 Most Influential Women' list. Angela Merkel, who held the top spot for 10 consecutive years from 2011 to last year, was not included in this year's ranking due to her retirement.
Scott, who ended her 25-year marriage with Bezos in 2019, received $36.5 billion (40.41 trillion KRW), equivalent to 4% of Amazon's total shares. She has continued her generous philanthropic efforts, donating over 6 trillion KRW last year alone.
Maggie McGrath, editor of ForbesWomen, explained the reason for selecting Scott as number one: "While sharing the cause that the current state needs improvement, she completely overturned the way billionaires donate their wealth."
Second place went to U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, and third place to Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank (ECB), who was second last year.
Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors (GM), and Melinda Gates, ex-wife of Microsoft (MS) founder Bill Gates, ranked fourth and fifth respectively.
Among Koreans, Lee Boo-jin, President of Hotel Shilla, was the only one to make the list, ranking 89th, up one spot from 90th last year.
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