back to article Bono bests Bezos in Fortune's 'World's 50 Greatest Leaders' list

Fortune has published its list of the worthies they deem to be the "World's 50 Greatest Leaders", and the tech world is represented in the top 10 not by a Zuckerberg, Page, Ellison, or Brin, but by Amazon's Jeff Bezos, whom Fortune describes as "an extremely rare combination of visionary and master builder." Jeff Bezos Top …

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  1. Khaptain Silver badge

    Inspiration

    Do any of them inspire me, truthfully -- No..

    Angela Merkel probably has the biggest pair of testicles, so she remains up on the list. All the rest I either don't know them or really don't beleive that they should be there..

    The Pope has become a media twunts wetdream.

    General Joe Dunford - Who dat ?

    Alan Mulally - Who dat - a guy that makes Ford Escorts ?

    Warren Buffet - Bill Clinton - Cmon now, this list really is not serious.

    Aung San Suu Kyi - The Nobel prizses have become a bit of a joke ( although she might have meritted something less mediatic)

    Question : Why is BONO on a list of inspiring people...... I won't bother citing what kind of list I really would like to see him - but I believe that hitmen might take some interest...

    I kind of wonder if the list wasn't poached from a page 17 daily fail page.

    People that inspire me are usually unknown people doing mundane things, to help others without ever receiving or expecting any wealth, medals or public feedback.....

    1. DaneB

      Re: Inspiration

      What is all this tosh about these people "making the world better"?

      That got spun around when Steve Jobs carped it.

      Get real people!

    2. Ted Treen
      Devil

      Re: Inspiration

      Bono?

      Is that the one who bullies us into parting with some of our pittance, whilst moving his fortune & financial management to Holland in order to reduce his Eire taxes?

      1. Enrico Vanni

        Re: Inspiration

        The very same Bono who is hated by the Africans he 'helped' by supplying 'free' mosquito nets, thus putting the local pest controllers out of business.

        Way to go (idiot).

  2. HKmk23

    WTF...............

    List of a liberal politically correct pinky........

    1. DocJames
      FAIL

      Re: WTF...............

      That's why General Joe is in at #8.

      Wait, is this Poe's law in action?

    2. Jim 59

      Re: WTF...............

      @HKmk23 eh? read the list again. No pinkos there. The Independant would have most of these people in prison.

      Pope - seems like a good egg.

      Aung San Suu Kyi - elected leader, virtually imprisoned, has spent much of her waiting to / trying to help her people. A whiff of Nelson Mandela there.

      Bono - yeah I like his music. People ridicule the guy but I would rather have him speaking up for good causes than holed up on a private island smoking whatever.

      Warren Buffet - Billionaire who lives like a millionaire. Like him for that. Clever and independent.

      Clinton/Slick Willy - Genuinely charming bloke with actual leadership qualities. Another guy who could retire into quiet personal luxury but instead does what he can to help others.

  3. Aristotles slow and dimwitted horse

    Other than...

    Other than leading his once most awesome band down a dead end alley and on into rock mediocrity, I'm not sure what it is that Bono has actually led to validate his appearance on ANY list of inspiring leaders?

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    This is a joke?

    I think that most of the people on that list are either a waste of space, corrupt, or evil e.g.

    Bono is a waste of space.

    1. This post has been deleted by its author

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Merkel, Aung San Su Kyi and the mundane - agreed.

    Agree with the first poster on the whole. Merkel the most inspiring, with the possible exception of Aung San Sukyi.I like his point about the finding inspiration in the mundane - a really good one.

  6. James Hughes 1

    Elon Musk would be my vote

    Top electric cars, solar power and reusable rockets.

    What's not to like.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Elon Musk would be my vote

      "Top electric cars (the price), solar power (it's inefficiency) and reusable rockets (massive carbon foot print).

      What's not to like."

      To name a few.

      1. Nigel 11

        Re: Elon Musk would be my vote

        Solar power is 100% efficient by any sensible definition. It is capturing energy for useful purposes, before returning it to outer space as low-grade heat. The earth's surface does exactly the same just by being there, but without the useful purposes stuff in the middle.

        Conversion efficiency means that a 15% efficient solar panel is 85% no better or worse than a rock, and 15% useful. That's infinitely (divide-by-zero-error) better than plain rock, at least with respect to generating electricity.

        The Earth's current total electricty usage could be met by current technology solar panels covering just 1% of the Sahara desert. To those saying that's a very large area, it's about the same area as the part of the planet covered by roofs. Average life-expectancy of a roof? Maybe 50 years. So given solar panelling at the same price as roofing materials, humanity could do it in fifty years.

        In sunny parts of the world, solar roofs are surely the way to go!

  7. John Brown (no body) Silver badge
    Facepalm

    number 11, New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter,

    Who, outside of the USA, would know who this footballer is? Hardly an "inspiring world leader".

    1. disgruntled yank

      Re: number 11, New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter,

      Derek Jeeter plays football, too?

      For the determinedly footie or cricket focused among you, shortstop is an infield position in baseball.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: number 11, New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter,

        @yank Well done, that was his joke. The baseball *world* series that no one but the US is in or pays any attention to.

        1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

          Re: number 11, New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter,

          @AC, yes, I assumed most would get the point without using the joke icon. I may have deliberately added a bit of extra confusion for some left-pondians with the ambiguity of "football"

          ...and before anyone mentions The New York World newspaper...even us right-pondians know a little about USA "culture" ;-)

  8. Greg D

    list clearly satire

    Pope? Bono?

    Fucking please. If it actually is satire its not even funny.

    1. dogged

      Re: list clearly satire

      At least it's the Pope's job to be a leader.

      It seems to be Bono's job to be a twat.

  9. JayB
    WTF?

    WTF?

    Seriously? WTF are the people at Fortune smoking?

    We have in this list of "inspiring world leaders":-

    #1 a man who heads one of the biggest collection of hypocrites & paedophiles on the planet. (no, he is not one I grant you).

    #5 a man who was dragged up in court for being a lying, adultering weasel....

    #7 a man who has seen the world - shot at most of it - and is a senior officer of what is widely regarded as one of the largest groups of armed idiots on the planet (What's the difference between the US Army and Cub Scouts, Cub Scouts don't have heavy artillery).

    #8 Bono.. this is "tax dodging, Venture Capitalist, Asset Stripping" Bono, a man famed not just for singing, but for moving all his money to a tax haven the moment someone mentioned Ireland might not be cheap soon.

    #11 a man who, when looking at the words "inspiring world leaders", fails on all three counts of that term.

    I will go for Merkel, Dalai Lama and Ang Sun Suu Kyi because at least they have actually done something worthy of respect. I particularly liked Khaptain's "biggest testicles" remark, and I'll go with James Hughes 1 "Elon Musk" vote. The man might be madder than a box of frogs but he's a tech, he's pushing boundaries and proving the establishment is just a little bit wonky when it comes to organising major tech projects.

    FFS, let's put Bruce Springsteen in there... let's put Lindsey Lohan in there, at least she's brought us all closer in watching her car crash of a life!!!

    #now very depressed if that is what is deemed to be inspiring#

    1. dogged

      Re: WTF?

      > FFS, let's put Bruce Springsteen in there...

      Nah, let's put Bruce Schneier in there.

  10. Richard Barnes

    WTF is Bono doing in that list?

    This is supposed to be a list of leaders. OK, I can see why we might recognise a good number of people on this list as leaders, including Bezos. But Bono? WTF has he ever led?

    Fortune magazine's editorial judgment is now worth nothing.

    1. Ken Hagan Gold badge

      Re: WTF is Bono doing in that list?

      "Fortune magazine's editorial judgment is now worth nothing."

      I expect the editorial judgement was "Will this admittedly light-weight story pull in some readers and therefore subsidize the heavier stuff that we want to be publishing?". It's the same reason that El Reg publishes bootnotes. (At least, I think so. Maybe I've got it the wrong way round and the serious IT stories are just to pull in readers for Lester. I hope so. That sounds like a nice world.)

  11. Tim 11
    Angel

    Where's zuckerberg?

    how can zuckerberg possibly missing from this list? He's the new messiah - everyone knows it. it must be true, hollywood told me so.

  12. ColonelClaw

    Say Wha?

    Why is the Pope even on that list at all? I've been to central and southern Africa and seen with my own eyes hundreds of (mainly Christian) people of all ages dying from AIDS. It's both incredibly grim and unbearably depressing, and Popes past and present are directly responsible for it happening by telling them not to use condoms.

    Of course, the big pharmaceutical companies love him for it...

    And that's before we even get into the debate about religion being a load of utter bollocks.

    1. Swarthy

      Re: Say Wha?

      To be fair, the various Popes have also been telling them not to have sex outside of marriage, which would have vastly minimized the spread of AIDS.

      I agree with you on religion being a complete crock, though.

      1. Khaptain Silver badge

        Re: Say Wha?

        Try having a talk to your dog and telling him not to go a humping after it has had a whiff of bitch in heat.

  13. ElReg!comments!Pierre

    Wrong angle, fellow commentards

    Although I agree with a lot of what was written so far in the comments, it's Fortune's list of leaders, which means "top snakeoil merchants". People able to initiate and/or perpetuate a cult centered around them. By that measure most of the nominees do belong here.

    And don't forget it's a merkin list, only people visible from inside merca are taken into consideration; and merkins are favored. Hence the shortstop whose name I can't be bothered to aknoledge. Had it been a brit list it would have comprised Brian O'Driscoll. Same diff.

    1. ElReg!comments!Pierre

      Re: Wrong angle, fellow commentards (@myself)

      Aw, seems my keyboard is acting up again...

  14. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

    Pliers

    So the el'reg run down of the top 10 pliers isn't looking so stupid anymore is it ?

  15. Phil_Evans

    And where is Larry Ellison and his huge submersible when a lonely nation needs him? Just like many of this list, famed and wowed for vacuous meanderings, followed by lots of, well, cash.

  16. Anonymous Blowhard

    World?

    Is this really the "World's 50 Greatest Leaders" or just a list that Americans may have heard of?

    Not wanting to insult the leadership qualities of some US citizens, especially in business, but this seems more like the "World Series of Leaders".

    Just to be controversial, where did Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping and Kim Jong-un come in the list?

    And what about Charles Montgomery Burns?

    1. Nigel 11

      Re: World?

      Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un are bad and worst leaders. The jury is out on Xi Jinping. The recent leadership of China has accomplished some remarkable things. Heretical thought: would today's average Chinese really have been better-off if the country had become a Western democracy when Mao died?

      Ancient Chinese wisdom:

      “The best leaders are those the people hardly know exist. The next best is a leader who is loved and praised. Next comes the one who is feared. The worst one is the leader that is despised.

      "If you don't trust the people, they will become untrustworthy.

      "The best leaders value their words, and use them sparingly. When she has accomplished her task, the people say, "Amazing: we did it, all by ourselves!"

      Lao Tzu, and as true today as in the 6th century BC. I'll leave it to fellow commentards to assess whether any of Fortune's list are those rare grade 1 leaders.

      Does anyone know if "she" in the last paragraph of the quote is a modern translator's gimmick, or the most accurate translation? Or is Chinese personal pronoun ungendered "she/he"? Both seem unlikely given more recent Chinese society, but it was written ~2500 years ago.

  17. disgruntled yank

    I guess he can take consolation from Shakespeare

    When in disgrace with Fortune and men's eyes...

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "Are we feeling inspired yet?"

    Inspired to declare you all insane!

    Seems I'm the only sane person on this spinning rock. Surely there must be some sane people left?

    Tho like me they'll be keeping their distance from the infected.

    1. gazthejourno (Written by Reg staff)

      I see you've changed accounts again once you noticed the rantings were being rejected from your other one. Cute.

      1. ElReg!comments!Pierre

        Bring back the Moderatrix, I say

        Wah-pessshh!

  19. MJI Silver badge

    Some stupids

    Bono?!?!?!?

    Just why?

    As to music from Ireland nothing tops Thin Lizzy anyway

    Lots of people I have never heard of.

    I can name someone missing from top ten. The Queen. Name any world leader with a better reputation? She even stars in a Bond short!

  20. Just n. other user

    Why Bono in Fortune magazine's list?

    As far as I know the reason Bono appears on the list is because he owns a stake in Fortune magazine through one of his investment companies.

    Should his inclusion on this list be a surprise to anyone? As a narcissist, hypocrite and general gobshite, I doubt it.

  21. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    I have to agree with much said above

    Loose Windscreen is more inspiring, The e-street band isn`t dependent on a glorified echo box as ruthlessly pilloried by Bill Bailey

    Here: ( warning swearword in intro )

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8dZwXnMrRU

    It`s Fiday so I have to: U2 are performing at a charity gig in Dublin for Africa, It gets to the singalong bit and Bono starts preaching " Every time I clap my hands another child dies in Africa" someone at the front yells " Well feckin` stop it then y`eedjit!!!".

    Gets coat and goes transonic.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: I have to agree with much said above

      "Loose Windscreen is more inspiring"

      Olivier Newton Squirrel is more inspiring!

  22. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    WTF Bono?

    What's Bono got to do on this list? He's the leader of a band.

  23. This post has been deleted by its author

  24. Lars Silver badge
    Happy

    Well, no1 leader

    Lets hope the new leader will lead the child abusing priests into prison, lets hope he will show the priests without women or children into onanating without the threat of hell, lets hope the new leader can move his church at least a hundred years towards to day, and lets hope he will eventually grasp the logic between a condom and AIDS. Lets hope, no matter how funny it sounds. Lets hope he will dress in jeans and run a bike, lets hope he will find a woman (not so sure about that, as women have a tendency of abstracting leaders, just ask me or Adolf). Lets hope he wakes up some morning questioning all the rubbish he is supposed to represent.

    PS. Google, did the leader pay you for hiding the word o***''ting or is it a personal problem for you.

  25. Flakey

    I can see it now ...

    a rookie journo is asked to do a piece in Fortune just to fill space up and to show the editor what he/she can do so sits on the bog for 10 minutes and comes up with this crap.

    As they are a catholic they feel it compulsory to put the pope (you get no uppercase title from me) in the No1 spot then adds a few yanks that no one outside the USA has heard of and a smattering of Europeans just to make up the numbers and to keep us (kind of) interested.

    Bono is included because the journo thinks U2 are a great band and salivates every time they are heard on FM radio. (Of course this is all conjecture. If I'm right, great, if I'm not, so what)

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