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Taylor Swift tops the Vanity Fair “Powers That Be” list, a look at the most “elite” people in media and business.
A companion to the magazine’s annual list of “The Disrupters,” the two rankings together make up what the magazine calls the 2015 “New Establishment.” “The Disrupters,” led by Mark Zuckerberg, is a ranking of “50 innovators who have defined the year in terms of how we interact, how we work and play, and what cultural products we consume and how.” In contrast, the 25 people ranked under the “Powers That Be” heading are “visionary executives and entertainers who have consolidated their spheres of influence while continuing to affect the culture in new ways.”
Swift leads the way, with Vanity Fair explaining, “Swift isn’t merely the world’s favorite pop star, putting up sales numbers that are nearly unfathomable in the post-Napster age — she is also using her platform to make giant companies conform to her will.” The magazine points to the singer’s very public battles with Spotify and Apple. But what makes Swift’s new honor all the more noteworthy is that Vanity Fair already chose the superstar to cover its Style issue earlier this year as the “most influential 25-year-old in America.”
For her second honor this year, she’s now joined on the “Powers That Be” list by Kim Kardashian and Kanye West (sharing the number 12 spot), Jay Z and Beyoncé (sharing number 21), LeBron James, the “funny guys” (Stephen Colbert, James Corden, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Bill Maher, Seth Meyers, Trevor Noah, Conan O’Brien, and Larry Wilmore), Bradley Cooper and more. And they’re in good company, as other power brokers on the list range from Hillary Clinton to Disney’s Bog Iger. Meanwhile, some of the notable names on Zuckeberg’s “Disrupters” list include Amy Schumer, Jessica Alba, Jared Leto, and John Oliver.
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