Handout image shows the cover of TIME magazine.[AFP]
The fourth annual list, which is due to hit newsstands Friday, omits US President George W. Bush for the first time but includes Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
The "artists and entertainers" category includes Hollywood heavyweights Martin Scorsese, Cate Blanchett and heart-throbs Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio, along with fashion model Kate Moss.
Pop sensation Justin Timberlake is named along with Senegalese musician Youssou N'Dour, while former US vice president Al Gore's shift to environmental campaigner sees him nominated in the "scientists and thinkers" category.
The list, which is designed to recognize "the men and women whose power, talent or moral example is transforming our world," does not appear in any order or give the magazine's reasons why some people were chosen over others.
The "leaders and revolutionaries" category features Queen Elizabeth II, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni -- in an entry penned by US counterpart Condoleezza Rice -- and Rice herself, appearing for a fourth year running.
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger makes a showing next to Raul Castro, the younger brother of Cuban leader Fidel Castro, Indian Congress Party leader Sonia Gandhi and Chinese President Hu Jintao.
Other politicians in the mix include German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Liu Qi, head of the 2008 Beijing Olympics committee.
Besides Rice, US talk show host Oprah Winfrey is the only person to have appeared all four years, featuring in the "heroes and pioneers" section in an entry written by anti-apartheid campaigner Nelson Mandela.
Other "heroes" include billionaire investor and philanthropist Warren Buffett, rubbing shoulders with tennis champion Roger Federer, footballer Thierry Henry and Chinese online activist Zeng Jinyan.
Actor and director George Clooney, who has been campaigning to raise awareness about the situation in the Sudanese region of Darfur, is meanwhile named along with Parkinson's disease sufferer and fellow actor Michael J. Fox.
British entrepreneur Richard Branson makes a show in the "builders and titans" section along with Chad Hurley and Steve Chen, the co-founders of video sharing website YouTube, and luxury brand guru and LVMH boss Bernard Arnault.
Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, the world's fifth richest man, also appears alongside Apple chief Steve Jobs.