Barack and Michelle Obama have been recognized as the most respected men and women on the planet.
Analytical data collection site YouGov has been conducting this survey every year since 2014. In 2020, the former US president took first place on the list, pushing Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates to an equally honorable second place.
Bronze went to Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian leader Narendra Modi was fourth, and legendary actor Jackie Chan was fifth.
Elon Musk also made a quick jump up the list, moving up four places to ninth.
Other respected celebrities, according to a survey of the world's population: Keanu Reeves (10th), Cristiano Ronaldo (8th), Michael Jordan (13th) and Donald Trump (15th).
«Gates dropped one position, possibly due to conspiracy theories that he was somehow involved in the spread of COVID-19,» the website says.
In the women's category, the former first lady confidently retained her place as the most respected woman on the planet.
Oprah Winfrey dropped two positions from second place, now occupied by Angelina Jolie. In the third place is Queen Elizabeth II.
The top 10 also includes Jennifer Lopez (5th), Emma Watson (6th), Scarlett Johansson (7th), Taylor Swift (9th) and Shakira (10th).
When commenting on the voting results on its website, YouGov made an interesting point. The portal noted that actresses and singers dominate in the list of influential and respected women, while among men, representatives of show business are inferior to politicians, athletes and businessmen.
More than 45 thousand people from 42 countries and regions took part in the polls that the researchers did for the list of the most respected people of 2020.
