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The 3 Aussie women considered among world's most powerful

Gina Rinehart, Jacinda Ardern, Julia Gillard, Taylor Swift and Rihanna.
Forbes has named the world's most powerful women of 2021. (Source: Getty)

Three Australian women are considered to be in the top 100 most powerful in the world, according to Forbes.

The World's 100 Most Powerful Women list considers women from all over the world, from philanthropists to politicians.

Here’s what you need to know about Australia’s most powerful women.

Who are Australia's most powerful women?

Shemara Wikramanayake

Ranking at number 24 on the list is Macquarie Group CEO Shemara Wikramanayake.

Wikramanayake became the CEO of the international investment bank in 2018 after joining in 1987.

During her time at Macquarie, she has worked in six different countries across multiple businesses.

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Wikramanayake has established and led Macquarie’s corporate advisory offices in New Zealand, Hong Kong and Malaysia, and the bank’s infrastructure funds management business in the US and Canada.

Wikramanayake is also Australia’s highest-paid CEO, according to the Australian Financial Review’s annual CEO pay survey, reportedly earning around $16 million a year.

Gina Rinehart

Coming in at number 44 on the list is executive chair of Hancock Prospecting, and Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart.

Building her $30 billion net worth from iron ore mining, Rinehart also ranks number 70 on the Forbes billionaire list.

She took over her father’s company in 1992 and rebuilt the financially distressed Hancock Prospecting to become one of the country's most successful mining companies.

Julia Gillard

Finally, coming in at number 93 is former prime minister Julia Gillard. Gillard was the first female prime minister of Australia, holding the role from 2010 to 2013.

Nowadays, Gillard is the chair of Beyond Blue, Australia’s leading mental health awareness platform and is chair of the UK's Wellcome Trust, a biomedical research foundation with an endowment of more than 25 billion pounds.

Who are the top 10 most powerful women?

  1. MacKenzie Scott

  2. Kamala Harris

  3. Christine Lagarde

  4. Mary Barra

  5. Melinda French Gates

  6. Abigail Johnson

  7. Ana Patricia Botín

  8. Ursula von der Leyen

  9. Tsai Ing-wen

  10. Julie Sweet

Who are the youngest, most powerful women?

  1. Taylor Swift, 31 - rank 78

  2. Rihanna, 33 - rank 68

  3. Sanna Marin, 36 - rank 83

  4. Roshni Nadar Malhotra, 40 - rank 52

  5. Beyoncé Knowles, 40 - rank 78

  6. Serena Williams, 40 - rank 85

  7. Jacinda Ardern, 41 - rank 34

  8. Mette Frederiksen, 44 - rank 71

  9. Reese Witherspoon, 45 - rank 74

  10. Zuzana Caputova, 48 - rank 86

Who are the most powerful women in Finance?

  1. Abigail Johnson, CEO, Fidelity Investments - rank 6

  2. Ana Patricia Botín, executive chair, Santander - rank 7

  3. Jane Fraser, CEO, Citigroup - rank 14

  4. Ho Ching, director, Temasek Trust - rank 33

  5. Adena Friedman, CEO, Nasdaq - rank 41

  6. Marianne Lake and Jennifer Piepszak, Co-CEOs of consumer & community banking, JPMorgan Chase - rank 42

  7. Thasunda Brown Duckett, CEO, TIAA - rank 45

  8. Mary Callahan Erdoes, CEO JP Morgan Asset Management - rank 47

  9. Cathie Wood, founder, Ark Invest - rank 53

  10. Hana Al Rostamani, CEO, First Abu Dhabi Bank - rank 57

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