Parkland Students Top Fortunes List: The World’s 50 Greatest Leaders

There is one thing that you can never say about Fortune, magazine and that is they are part of the Liberal media or fake news. So, when they announced their highly anticipated annual list of The World’s 50 Greatest Leaders, number one on was The Students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School as well as high schoolers nationwide, it sent shockwaves around the world.

The movement that began after a mass shooting of 17 people in the Parkland, Florida community on Valentines Day continues to grow. Millions of high school students, their parents, teachers, and supporters has not let up in their quest for common sense gun control and this boost from Fortune is not going to hurt their cause.

Also of note is that President Donald Trump did not make the list, nor did any member Democrat or Republican of the House or the Senate. Scott Gottlieb FDA commissioner did make the list at 6th.

Here is how the team of writers at Fortune described their choice for number one.

If 2018 becomes the year that the United States finally begins to tackle its disease of gun violence—an epidemic that steals nearly 100 American lives every day—it will be due not to the good sense of elected officials, but rather to the courage, tenacity, and sheer eloquence of students like Emma González, who bore witness to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shootings with an unforgettable speech, and long moment of silence, at the March for Our Lives rally in Washington, D.C.

It will be due to 11th-graders like Cameron Kasky, who along with Stoneman Douglas classmates Jaclyn Corin and Alex Wind launched the #NeverAgain crusade and helped plan the historic rally in Washington, which was mirrored by gatherings around the world. It will be due to 11-year-olds like Naomi Wadler, who reminded millions of people on that same day of something that should never have needed a reminder: that young African-Americans who die in such overwhelming numbers from gun violence aren’t “simply statistics” but instead vibrant lives “full of potential.” It will be due to 21-year-olds like Columbia student Nza-Ari Khepra, who cofounded two efforts to bring attention to gun violence—Project Orange Tree and the Wear Orange Campaign—which she hopes will inspire other young people to engage in a conversation about this scourge.

So what does being named to the top of the list of Forbes World’s 50 Greatest Leaders mean? It gives the movement even more credibility than it had before in the boardroom of the Fortune 500 companies.

It gives the movement even greater credibility than it has ever had before. It also means that city, state and national leaders will need to take the movement more seriously than they might have been before.

Being at the top of the list will allow them to raise more money and at the same time be a player in electing candidates that they feel embrace the movement.

Another group that stunned the business world was the #MeToo Movement that finished in a close third on the Forbes List Here is what Forbes had to say about them.

Activist Tarana Burke (center) began using the phrase “Me Too” in 2006 to describe the pervasiveness of sexual abuse. Today, there’s no single face or leader of the #MeToo movement—in large part because more people than ever know that harassment in the workplace is universal. The women who have come forward to tell their stories have ousted powerful executives such as Harvey Weinstein, Steve Wynn, and Michael Ferro (see Fortune‘s feature on Ferro’s departure from Tronc). The ensuing reckoning is forcing leaders in every industry, not just ­media and entertainment, to change their way of thinking.

Here are the rest of the list from Forbes.

THE TOP 10

1. The Students Marjory Stoneman Douglas and other schools
2. Bill and Melinda Gates Cofounders, Gates Foundation
3. The #MeToo Movement
4. Moon Jae-in President, South Korea
5. Kenneth Frazier CEO, Merck
6. Scott Gottlieb FDA commissioner
7. Margarethe Vestager Commissioner for Competition, European Union
8. Larry Fink CEO, BlackRock
9. General Joseph Dunford Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff 10. Liu He Vice Premier, China

11-20

11. Mary Barra CEO, General Motors
12. Nick Saban Football coach, University of Alabama
13. Emmanuel Macron President, France 14.

Tim Cook CEO, Apple

15. Serena Williams Athlete
16. Isabelle Kocher CEO, Engie
17. Katie Bethell Executive director, PL+US
18. Ryan Coogler Film director
19. Huateng “Pony” Ma CEO, Tencent
20. Indira Jaising Founder, Lawyers Collective

21-30

21. Marc Benioff CEO, Salesforce
22. The Gymnasts and Their Allies
23. Kathleen McLaughlin Chief sustainability officer, Walmart
24. 24. Mukesh Ambani Chairman and managing director, Reliance Industries
25. Mick Cornett Former mayor, Oklahoma City
26. Donald Hopkins Physician, the Carter Center
27. Oprah Winfrey CEO, OWN
28. Mitch Landrieu Mayor, New Orleans
29. Jacinda Ardern Prime Minister, New Zealand
30. Ma Jun Environmentalist, China

31-40

31. West Virginia Teachers
32. Leymah Gbowee President, Gbowee Peace Foundation
33. Jamie Dimon CEO, JPMorgan Chase
34. Michael Sorrell President, Paul Quinn College
35. Reese Witherspoon Actor/producer
36. Daniel Servitje Montull CEO, Grupo Bimbo
37. Izumi Nakamitsu Undersecretary general for disarmament, United Nations
38. Bashar Masri Founder, Rawabi
39. Leila de Lima Senator, Philippines
40. Angela Nyambura Gichaga CEO, Financing Alliance for Health

41-50

41. Timothy Keller Evangelical minister/author, Redeemer City to City
42. Gwynne Shotwell President and chief operating officer, SpaceX
43. Balkrishna Doshi Architect, India
44. Feike Sijbesma CEO, DSM
45. Kelly Chibale Scientist, South Africa
46. Ana Botín Group executive 
chairman, Banco Santander 47. Dina Meza Journalist, PEN Honduras
47. Ridwan Kamil Mayor, Bandung, Indonesia
48. Amy Gutmann President, University of Pennsylvania
49. Ed Bastian CEO, Delta Air Lines