Germany's Merkel again most powerful woman: Forbes

Obama debuted at No. 40, coming in ahead of talk show host Oprah Winfrey at 41 and Britain's Queen Elizabeth at 42.

Sheila Bair, chair of the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which insures bank deposits, retained the No. 2 spot after debuting on the Forbes list last year. She has gained increased prominence as the U.S. recession grinds on.

The chief executives of PepsiCo, Anglo American, Temasek, Kraft Foods, WellPoint, and Areva all remain in the Forbes top 10.

The list is based on factors such as economic impact, media reach and career accomplishments.

The chief executives of Dupont and Sunoco are new to the top 10, replacing the Xerox Corp. chair, who dropped to No. 15, and former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who fell off the list after leaving office in January.

Rice's successor, Hillary Clinton, came in at No. 36, dropping from No. 28 last year when her presidential bid made her the woman with the highest public profile on the list.

Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, retained No. 35.

Here is the full top 10 in the list on www.forbes.com/women:

1: Angela Merkel, chancellor. Germany

2: Sheila Bair, chairman, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. US.

3: Indra Nooyi, chief executive, PepsiCo. US.

4: Cynthia Carroll, chief executive, Anglo American. UK.

5: Ho Ching, chief executive, Temasek Holdings. Singapore

6: Irene Rosenfeld, chief executive, Kraft Foods. US.

7: Ellen Kullman, chief executive, DuPont. US.

8: Angela Braly, chief executive, WellPoint. US.

9: Anne Lauvergeon, chief executive, Areva. France

10: Lynn Elsenhans, chief executive, Sunoco. US.