Unlike the Forbes 30 Under 30 list or 50 Over 50 list, the ranking of the World’s 100 Most Powerful Women does not solicit nominations from the public. After all, we can see who is leading the world’s largest GDPs; which tech companies are striking the most influential deals to build out the AI ecosystem; which founders have built the most valuable companies and which self-made billionaires have agreed to pass their wealth on to worthy causes.

The trickier part about measuring power, however, is timing. Some years, elections take place well ahead of the deadline to complete our ranking—as they did in Japan this year, propelling newly-elected prime minister Sanae Takaichi to the No. 3 spot on the 2025 list. Other times, elections and CEO appointments happen at the end of one year but don’t take effect until the following—which is why, for instance, EY chief Janet Truncale didn’t make the top 100 in 2023 but did in 2024 (and again in 2025).

To that end, here are ten women who are going into 2026 with their eyes on a promotion, potential election to power or surging consumer interest in the brand they’re building:

Natascha Viljoen: South African mining executive Viljoen has been the chief operating officer for the $97 billion (market cap) Newmont Corporation since 2023. In September, the company announced she will become its next CEO starting in January, putting Viljoen at the helm of the world’s largest producer of gold, copper, zinc, silver and lead. “Growing up in a South African mining family—my father was a winding engine driver—my passion for this industry was shaped from an early........

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