Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is named Forbes' third Most Powerful Woman in the World - joining newcomers Stacey Abrams and the CEOs of CVS and Clorox

Forbes has released its annual list of the most powerful women in the world, with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris making her debut at number three, as German Chancellor Angela Merkel claims the top spot for a tenth consecutive year. 

Harris on Tuesday was named Forbes' top-ranked newcomer for 2020 after rising through the ranks as the first woman and first woman of color to be elected VP in American history. 

She overtakes last year's third-place winner, fellow Democrat and Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, who is now ranked number seven.  

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris made her debut in Forbes list of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women, taking the number three spot 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was crowned the most powerful woman for the 10th year running and French politician Christine Lagarde remains in second place as the head of European Central Bank

It marks Harris' debut on the prestigious list, but the US Senator is no stranger to firsts, having been the first Indian-American elected to the Senate in 2017 and the first to serve as attorney general in California in 2011. 

She is among 100 of the most powerful CEOs, heads of state, and entertainers across the globe being celebrated this year for using their platforms to 'address the unique challenges of 2020'.

'The women on the 17th annual power list hail from 30 countries and were born across four generations. There are 10 heads of state, 38 CEOs and five entertainers among them,' Forbes said on Tuesday.  

'But where they differ in age, nationality and job description, they are united in the ways they have been using their platforms to address the unique challenges of 2020.'

Some have reclaimed their titles, such as Angela Merkel, who was crowned the most powerful woman for the 10th year running, and Christine Lagarde from France, who remains in second place as the head of European Central Bank.  

Newbies: Incoming CEO of CVS, Karen Lynch made the list at 38, due to her response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Clorox CEO Linda Rendle, 42, also made strides along the same vein, increasing the company's production of cleaning products by 50 per cent during the pandemic

Among this year's newbies is one-time Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, who has become perhaps the nation's leading voice on voting rights with her organization, Fair Fight. She caps off the list with the 100th spot 

Completing the top five are Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, and philanthropist Melinda Gates, who are ranked four and five respectively.  

There are 17 newcomers on the Forbes list this year, including number 67, Mackenzie Scott, formerly Bezos, who last year pledged to give away all her money to charity after her divorce from Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos was finalized. 

Scott has stayed true to her word so far, donating nearly $1.7billion to 119 nonprofit groups, she announced in July. 

Also making the list for the first time is Karen Lynch, the incoming CEO of CVS drugstores, who is ranked number 38. 

In a challenging year for the healthcare industry, Lynch, the executive vice president of CVS Health and the president of health insurance provider Aetna, was praised for her response to the COVID-19 pandemic in March. 

Mackenzie Scott, formerly Bezos, came in at number 67 after pledging to give away all her money to charity following her divorce from Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos

The Forbes list also features some big names from the music industry, including Beyoncé who was ranked 72, and Taylor Swift trailing behind at 82, following the success of her surprise album Folklore, which sold 1 million units

She is now in charge of largest number of independently-run testing sites across the country. 

Clorox CEO Linda Rendle, 42, also made strides along the same vein, increasing the company's production of cleaning products by 50 per cent during the pandemic. 

Rendle, who joined the company in 2003 as a senior sales analyst, was appointed CEO in September. She was ranked 87. 

Among this year's newbies is one-time Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, who has become perhaps the nation's leading voice on voting rights with her organization, Fair Fight. 

Capping off the list at number 100, the 46-year-old was recognized for helping more than 800,000 residents in the state register to vote in 2020.  

She has also raised tens of millions of dollars through her organization and used her high profile to keep the party focused on the state. 

The Forbes list also features some big names from the music industry, with pop sensation Beyoncé returning with the 72nd spot.  

Taylor Swift weighed in behind at 82, following the success of her surprise album Folklore, which sold 1 million units. 

FORBES 100 MOST POWERFUL WOMEN IN THE WORLD 2020 

#1 Angela Merkel, 

#2 Christine Lagarde 

#3 Kamala Harris 

#4 Ursula von der Leyen 

#5 Melinda Gates 

#6 Mary Barra

#7 Nancy Pelosi 

#8 Ana Patricia Botín 

#9 Abigail Johnson 

#10 Gail Boudreaux

#11 Carol Tomé 

#12 Emma Walmsley 

#13 Susan Wojcicki 

#14 Julie Sweet

#15 Safra Catz

#16 Ruth Porat 

#17 Judith McKenna 

#18 Kristalina Georgieva 

#19 Martina Merz 

#20 Oprah Winfrey 

#21 Jessica Tan 

#22 Sheryl Sandberg 

#23 Jane Fraser 

#24 Shari Redstone 

#25 Nicke Widyawati 

#26 Amanda Blanc

#27 Phebe Novakovic 

#28 Amy Hood 

#29 Shemara Wikramanayake

#30 Ho Ching 

#31 Jessica Uhl 

#32 Jacinda Ardern 

#33 Adena Friedman 

#34 Joey Wat 

#35 Stacey Cunningham 

#36 Anne Finucane

#37 Tsai Ing-wen 

#38 Karen Lynch 

#39 Sheikh Hasina Wajed 

#40 Mary Callahan Erdoes 

#41 Nirmala Sitharaman 

#42 Laurene Powell Jobs 

#43 Marianne Lake

#44 Kathy Warden

#45 Gina Rinehart 

#46 Queen Elizabeth II 

#47 Mingzhu Dong 

#48 Rosalind Brewer 

#49 Gwynne Shotwell 

#50 Vicki Hollub 

#51 Dana Walden

#52 Erna Solberg 

#53 Donna Langley

#54 Jennifer Salke 

#55 Roshni Nadar Malhotra 

#56 Simonetta Sommaruga 

#57 Elvira Nabiullina 

#58 Tricia Griffith 

#59 Nicola Sturgeon 

#60 Maggie Wei Wu 

#61 Lynn Good 

#62 Kelly Zhang 

#63 Yuriko Koike 

#64 Wang Feng Ying 

#65 Melanie Kreis 

#66 Paula Santilli 

#67 MacKenzie Scott 

 #68 Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw 

#69 Rihanna 

#70 Zhou Qunfei

#71 Sophie Wilmes 

#72 Beyoncé Knowles 

#73 Kathleen Kennedy 

#74 Judy Faulkner 

#75 Mette Frederiksen 

#76 Güler Sabanci 

#77 Andrea Marques de Almeida 

#78 Sri Mulyani Indrawati 

#79 Ava DuVernay 

#80 Solina Chau 

#81 Lam Wai Ying 

#82 Taylor Swift 

#83 Zuzana Caputova 

#84 Mary Meeker 

#85 Sanna Marin 

#86 Eliza Manningham-Buller 

#87 Linda Rendle

#89 Raja Easa Al Gurg - 

#90 Lee Boo-jin 

#91 Dominique Senequier 

#92 Reese Witherspoon 

#93 Anne Wojcicki 

#94 Mellody Hobson

#95 Kirsten Green 

#96 Sahle-Work Zewde 

#97 Aileen Lee

#98 Renuka Jagtiani 

#99 Rania Nashar 

#100 Stacey Abrams