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50 Least Powerful People in the World

The website Wall Street 24/7 recently posted their latest list of the "Least Powerful People in the World." The list tracks what they call the top 50 "well-known individuals around the world who have recently experienced a precipitous loss in stature." According to Wall Street 24/7 these influential political figures, powerful executives, or successful athletes "have each fallen a great distance from their peak—some by their own doing and some as a result of circumstance."

The hedge fund manager Bill Ackman topped the list for 2016. Ackman had the best returns of any hedge fund manager in 2014, but then he lost billions of dollars on his bet on Valeant Pharmaceuticals, whose stock plummeted after federal investigators probed the company's drug pricing practices.

Then there was Sepp Blatter, former president of FIFA, the governing body of world soccer, the most popular sport in the world. After Blatter was accused of racketeering and other ethics violations, FIFA forced Blatter to resign and banned him from attending FIFA soccer games for eight years.

David Petraeus, former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, abruptly resigned from his post, acknowledging shortly afterward an extra-marital affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell. Worse than the affair perhaps was the general admitting to sharing classified government information with Broadwell in a plea deal with the Department of Justice.

All 50 people on the list became less powerful through some kind of moral collapse or unfortunate circumstances. But here's the beauty of the Incarnation: God chose to become one of the least powerful in order to save us.

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