On Wednesday, Forbes magazine released its yearly rankings of the most powerful person in the world and again, Vladimir Putin, president of Russia, topped the list for a fourth straight year in 2016. US president-elect Donald Trump landed second place.

According to the US business magazine, the president of Russia has exerted the influence of his country in nearly every corner of the globe. Forbes said the Russian leader, now 64 years old, is unconstrained by conventional norms while his reach has magnified in recent years, Dunya News reported. 

According to Forbes, Donald Trump was ranked second and could well be challenging Vladimir Putin for first place in 12 months' time. He will take over the presidency of the United States in a month, has a personal net worth in the billions, both houses of Congress on his side, and has a seeming immunity to scandal. Trump was elected president of the United States of America last month and was listed in Forbes 2015 power rankings at number 72. This year, third place went to Angela Merkel, a German Chancellor, who has been at the helm of the economic powerhouse of Europe for 11 years and announced she has plans to run for reelection next year.

Placed second in 2015 Forbes' list of the world's most influential people, Barack Obama went down to 48th place this year as he's about to pass down his presidency in a few weeks, after Trump won the election and ousted his Democratic Party from the White House. Fourth place went to Xi Jinping, President of China, while the fifth place on the list wen to Pope Francis. According to Forbes magazine, it assesses the influence of candidates from various walk of life worldwide, as it compiles its yearly list, which in 2016 has on it 74 powerful shakers and movers, the Daily Mail reported.