Angelina Jolie and Bill Gates tops World’s Most Admired people for 2018

Angelina Jolie, Bill Gates, the Obamas and Oprah are among the famous faces on YouGov’s annual list.
 
The actress-turned-humanitarian and Microsoft founder topped YouGov’s annual World’s Most Admired List as the No. 1 man and woman, outranking the Obamas, Pope Francis, Queen Elizabeth II and Oprah.

 

The study surveyed people in 35 countries, interviewing more 37,000 people to compile the list of the 20 men and 20 women the public looks up to most. Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Queen Elizabeth II and Hillary Clinton rounded out the top five most admired females. And Barack Obama, Jackie Chan, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Chinese business investor and philanthropist Jack Ma were the top five men selected.

A number of female entertainers, including Taylor Swift, Madonna, Priyanka Chopra, Gal Gadot and Emma Watson also placed on the list of females. The male list was predominantly comprised of business leaders and athletes, including Elon Musk, Cristiano Ronaldo, Warren Buffett and David Beckham. Lower down were politicians such as Russian President Vladimir Putin in sixth place and President Donald Trump at No. 17.

 

Jolie was named a Goodwill Ambassador by the United Nations in 2001, and in 2012 was appointed to the Special Envoy to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees continuing to advocate for human rights globally. In 2014, the Academy Award-winning actress was made an honorary dame for her services to the U.K. in foreign policy and for her efforts to end sexual violence in war zones. More recently, she visited Namibia with her children to promote forest conservation.

And philanthropy king Gates and his wife founded the world’s largest private charity — the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation — to promote global development. To date, the duo has donated more than $40 billion in grants spanning over 100 countries. Last year, he unveiled a campaign to combat the spread of malaria, in addition to donating $4.6 billion to an unnamed charity — his biggest donation since 2000.