Russian president Vladimir Putin has emerged victorious in Time magazine’s 2015 reader poll, reports the American weekly news magazine.
Among the 100 most influential people in the world, as hand selected by the editors of TIME, Putin edged out rapper-singer CL (of the South Korean girl-group 2NE1) to claim the number one spot with 6.95% of the votes in the final tally.
Pop stars Lady Gaga, Rihanna and Taylor Swift rounded out the top five with 2.6%, 1.9% and 1.8% of the votes, respectively.
Aside from Putin – the only world leader to rank in the top 10 – the only non-celebrities to appear in the top 10 were the Dalai Lama (1.7%), Pakistani female activist Malala Yousafzai (1.6%) and Pope Francis (1.5%).
Barack and Michelle Obama sat just outside the top 10 with 1.4% and 1.2% of the votes, respectively.
The TIME 100 is an annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world, spanning politics, entertainment, business, technology, science, religion and other fields.
More than half of the votes – 57.38% – were cast within the United States. Canada, and the United Kingdom followed with 5.54% and 4.55% respectively.
Chosen by the editors of TIME, this year’s list will be unveiled on April 16. Voting for the reader’s poll closed on April 10.
