Fortune Magazine has released its ‘World’s 50 Greatest Leaders’ list for 2021 that celebrates the well-known leaders, who made a difference amid the “truly Unprecedented times” of the COVID-19 pandemic. Unsurprisingly, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has topped the eighth edition of the annual list, beating out a number of influential people including Dolly Parton.

It’s not the first time that Ardern has placed highly on the Fortune’s list: In 2019 she placed second behind Bill and Melinda Gates. But to everyone’s surprise, Adar Poonawalla, the CEO of the Serum Institute of India (SII) too made it to the list. Poonawalla is the only Indian among the top 10 names on the list. 

Poonawalla, the CEO of the world’s largest vaccine producer company has been recognised for taking the task of supplying COVID-19 vaccines across India.

As per Fortune Magazine, Poonawalla’s company has been providing “global vaccine equity, providing low-cost vaccines to fight diseases like influenza, measles, and tetanus.” Now, “the SII has pledged to deliver up to two billion vaccine doses in the coming years to COVAX, a global initiative to provide vaccines to lower- and middle-income countries.”