First lady Michelle Obama beat out heads of state, chief executives and celebrities¹ to rank as the world's most powerful woman in Forbes magazine's annual listing on Wednesday.

《福布斯》年度最具权势女性榜本周三揭晓，美国第一夫人米歇尔•奥巴马击败众位巾帼元首、总裁和明星，荣膺榜首。

spouses² of chiefs of state and heads of government participating in the United Nations General Assembly at a special event held at Stone Barns Center in Westchester, New York September 24, 2010." src="http://www.enread.com/upimg/allimg/101009/4_101009023930_1.jpg" width="460" height="324" />
First lady Michelle Obama fixes her hair while waiting to greet the spouses of chiefs of state and heads of government participating in the United Nations General Assembly at a special event held at Stone Barns Center in Westchester, New York September 24, 2010.

Kraft Foods Chief Executive Irene Rosenfeld, who led a hostile（敌对的） $18 billion takeover（接管，验收） of Britain's Cadbury, came in second, followed by talk show host and media mogul（显要人物） Oprah Winfrey, who is ending "The Oprah Winfrey Show" next year after 25 years to launch her cable network OWN.

German Chancellor³ Angela Merkel, elected for a second term last year, was the fourth most powerful woman, while Secretary of State Hillary Clinton rounded out the top five.

Moira Forbes, vice⁴ president and publisher of ForbesWoman, said the women on the business magazine's list were "shaping many of the agenda-setting conversations of the day."

"They have built companies and brands, sometimes by non-traditional means and they have broken through gender⁵ barriers in areas of commerce, politics, sports and media and cultural zeitgeist（时代精神） , and thereby⁶ affecting the lives of millions, sometimes billions of people," she said.

This year Forbes changed the way it ranked women, basing the list less on wealth and power and more on creative influence and entrepreneurship.

Last year's winner was Merkel, followed by Sheila Bair, chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Obama ranked No. 40.

Forbes said Obama topped the list this year because "she has made the office of first lady her own" while remaining popular.

PepsiCo Inc Chief Executive Indra Nooyi, who was last week named the most powerful woman in U.S. business for the fifth year in a row by Fortune, was in sixth place, while singer Lady Gaga came in at No. 7.

Gail Kelly, chief executive of Australia's Westpac Banking⁷ Corp, was in eighth place, followed by singer Beyonce Knowles. Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres rounded out the top 10.

The complete Forbes list of the 100 most powerful women can be seen at www.forbes.com/powerwomen