Lady Gaga and Oprah Winfrey
Don’t blame the Lady for her fame, Oprah. After all, she was just born this way.
This week, Forbes released its annual World’s Most Powerful Women list, which ranks the women of the world in terms of money, media presence and overall impact.
While there was quite a bit of shuffling this year from the 2010 catalog, none was more noticeable than Lady Gaga, who popped into the 11th spot as the highest-ranking celebrity on the list (as well as the youngest woman overall), beating the former Queen of Talk, Oprah Winfrey, who was demoted from third place to 14th.
Now, we have to be honest here: Lady Gaga more powerful than Oprah? Despite her “Fame,” the Mother Monster has only a fraction of the years in the spotlight compared to O’s lengthy reign. Not to mention that Oprah literally OWNs an empire, with a eponymous (if not struggling) television network, magazine (O, The Oprah Magazine), lifestyle website and talk show, which she gracefully ended earlier this year after 25 seasons.
(PHOTOS: Lady Gaga’s Little Monsters)
But according to Forbes, Gaga earned $90 million from May 2010 to May 2011, boasts promotional deals with Google, Zynga and Gilt, and has raised more than $202 million to fight AIDS through her endorsement of MAC’s VIVA GLAM lipstick and lip gloss.
Those accomplishments alone weren’t enough to catapult the Lady to the top of the Most Powerful Women’s List, but something else was. Gaga topped Forbes‘ Celebrity 100 list (again beating Oprah), which was released in May, as well as in Forbes’ lists for social and web reach. She was also the first person ever to reach 12 million Twitter followers, and her Facebook page has more than 36 million fans (or, in Gaga’s case, Little Monsters).
(LIST: TIME’s 25 Most Powerful Women of the Past Century)
Is that enough to make her the 11th most powerful woman in the world? It was for Forbes, but we’re not quite convinced.
The top 10 World’s Most Powerful Women, however, we can definitely agree with:
1. Angela Merkel, German Chancellor
2. Hillary Clinton, U.S. Secretary of State
3. Dilma Rousseff, President of Brazil
4. Indra Nooyi, Chief Executive, PepsiCo
5. Sheryl Sandberg, COO, Facebook
6. Melinda Gates, Cofounder & Cochair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
7. Sonia Gandhi, President, Indian National Congress Party
8. Michelle Obama, First Lady
9. Christine Lagarde, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund
10. Irene Rosenfeld, CEO, Kraft Foods
All in all, let’s hear it for these female forces, as their influence is not only felt, but is also deeply needed, around the world. (via Forbes)
Erin Skarda is a reporter at TIME. Find her on Twitter at @ErinLeighSkarda. You can also continue the discussion on TIME’s Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.