The Superclass List

The Superclass List is a creation of David Rothkopf which his book Superclass: The Global Power Elite and The World They Are Making (published March 2008) is based upon. There are four key elements of success that unite the members of the Superclass, and gives them unparalleled power over world affairs. These elements are: geography, pedigree, networking and luck.

The verified list
In the book Rothkopf writes that his list from 2008 contains 6,000 individuals. The grouping is, however, only defined roughly and as a statistical reality. Rothkopf also writes that list (one in a million, globally), is always in flux. (Note, world population is now 6.9 – 7 billion. so, if published today, the list may contain 7,000 names.)

Rothkopf states that his list is not to be shown in public as there will be so much discussion about who does or does not qualify to be on the list. In interviews he mentions individuals that are on the list. This list contain names that he argues he has verified.

Australia

 * 1) Rupert Murdoch

Belgium

 * 1) Albert Frère
 * 2) Étienne Davignon
 * 3) Maurice Lippens

Brazil

 * 1) Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

Chile

 * 1) Andronico Luksic

China

 * 1) Hu Jintao
 * 2) Fu Chengyu
 * 3) Ding Lei
 * 4) Lou Jiwei
 * 5) Yang Huiyan
 * 6) Zhou Xiaochuan
 * 7) Richard Li Tzar Kai

Colombia

 * 1) Luis Alberto Moreno
 * 2) Shakira
 * 3) Julio Mario Santo Domingo

Egypt

 * 1) Amr Khaled
 * 2) Amr Moussa

Denmark

 * 1) Janus Friis

France

 * 1) Nicolas Sarkozy
 * 2) Pascal Lamy
 * 3) Michèle Alliot-Marie
 * 4) Baudouin Prot
 * 5) Jean-Claude Trichet

Germany

 * 1) Angela Merkel
 * 2) Josef Ackermann
 * 3) Josef Joffe
 * 4) Rene Obermann
 * 5) Reinhard Mohn

India

 * 1) Lakshmi Mittal
 * 2) Sonia Gandhi
 * 3) Ratan Tata
 * 4) Kalanidhi Maran
 * 5) Rana Talwar
 * 6) Kushal Pal Singh
 * 7) Mukesh Ambani
 * 8) Indra Nooyi
 * 9) Tenzin Gyatso

Iran

 * 1) Shah Reza Pahlavi

Ireland

 * 1) Bob Geldof

Italy

 * 1) Silvio Berlusconi

Netherlands

 * 1) Jeroen van der Veer

Japan

 * 1) Hiroshi Mikitani
 * 2) Osamu Suzuki
 * 3) Akira Mori

Kenya

 * 1) Wangari Maathai

Kuwait

 * 1) Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah

Lebanon

 * 1) Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah

Liberia

 * 1) Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

South Africa

 * 1) Patrice Motsepe

Mexico

 * 1) Mario Molina
 * 2) Genaro Larrea Mota Velasco
 * 3) Guillermo Ortiz Martinez
 * 4) Carlos Slim Helú
 * 5) Joaquín Guzman

Nigeria

 * 1) Aliko Dangote
 * 2) Odein Ajumogobia
 * 3) Francis Arinze

North Korea

 * 1) Kim Jong-Un ''

Pakistan

 * 1) Humza Bin Masood ''

Qatar

 * 1) Sheikh Hamad bin Thamer al-Thani

Russia

 * 1) Alexei Miller


 * 1) Vladimir Popovkin
 * 2) Andrey Likhachev
 * 3) Oleg Deripaska
 * 4) Sergey Babenkov

Saudi Arabia

 * 1) Bandar bin Sultan
 * 2) Al-Waleed bin Talal

Singapore

 * 1) Ho Ching

South Africa
Anton Rupert Nicky Oppenheimer Douw Steyn
 * 1) Nelson Mandela (deceased 2013)
 * 2) Patrice Motsepe

South Korea

 * 1) David Yonggi Cho

Portugal

 * 1) José Manuel Barroso

Sweden

 * 1) Carl Bildt
 * 2) Marcus Wallenberg
 * 3) Ingvar Kamprad
 * 4) Fredrik Reinfeldt
 * 5) Carl-Henric Svanberg

About 20–30 Swedes are on the list.

Switzerland

 * 1) Peter Brabeck-Letmathe

Turkey

 * 1) Kemal Derviş

United Arab Emirates

 * 1) Khalifa Mohammad Al-Kindi

United Kingdom

 * 1) Mike Turner
 * 2) Richard Branson
 * 3) Bernie Ecclestone
 * 4) Lakshmi Mittal
 * 5) John Silvester Varley
 * 6) Mark Thompson
 * 7) Stacy Shannon

United States

 * 1) Robert Zoellick
 * 2) Oprah Winfrey
 * 3) Indra Nooyi
 * 4) Al Gore
 * 5) Lee Scott
 * 6) Michael Mullen
 * 7) Mark Zuckerberg
 * 8) Pierre Omidyar
 * 9) Steve Case
 * 10) Sumner Redstone
 * 11) Michael Bloomberg
 * 12) Rex Tillerson
 * 13) Ben Bernanke
 * 14) Ken Lewis
 * 15) Stephen Green (banker)
 * 16) Lloyd Blankfein
 * 17) Sergey Brin
 * 18) Larry Page
 * 19) Bill Gates
 * 20) Warren Buffett
 * 21) Jerry Yang
 * 22) Henry "Hank" Paulson
 * 23) Joshua Bolten

Vatican

 * 1) Pope Benedict XVI

Venezuela

 * 1) Lorenzo Mendoza Gimenez
 * 2) Gustavo Cisneros