Person of the Year 2024: See the shortlist

On Thursday, TIME will announce its 2024 Person of the Year.

Since 1927, TIME has named a person, group or concept that has had the greatest impact — good or bad — on the world over the past 12 months. In 2023, TIME named pop superstar Taylor Swift as Person of the Year. Other previous selections include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the “Spirit of Ukraine” in 2022, tech titan Elon Musk in 2021, Ebola fighters in 2014 and former US President Barack Obama in 2021 2012 and 2008.

Ten candidates revealed this morning on NBC Today show are being considered for TIME’s annual awards. Here are the finalists, listed alphabetically by last name.

Kamala Harris

On the night of July 21, President Joe Biden announced that he was ending his presidential campaign and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for the Democratic nomination. What followed was a remarkable 107-day presidential campaign in which Harris sought to become the first woman president. Harris focused her campaign on reproductive rights and criticized former President Donald Trump for his role in the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturn decision Roe v. Calf, and suggested that Trump was a threat to democracy. But she lost to Trump and conceded the race on November 6th. Harris previously appeared on the Person of the Year cover alongside Biden in 2020 – the year the duo defeated Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence.

Kate Middleton

The Princess of Wales made international headlines this year and sparked debate about privacy and health among public figures. In January, Kate Middleton was hospitalized for two weeks for “planned abdominal surgery” and Kensington Palace said she would be out of the public eye until Easter. But after conspiracy theories about Middleton’s whereabouts began circulating online in March, the queen dispelled the rumors by revealing that she had been diagnosed with cancer. In September, Middleton announced that she had completed her chemotherapy treatment. Middleton was on the TIME100 list of most influential people in 2013 and was a runner-up for Person of the Year in 2011.

Elon Musk

Elon Musk has long been an innovative disruptor. From online payments to electric vehicles to commercial spaces, the Tesla CEO has shaken up the industry, and in 2022 he bought and revamped the social media platform previously known as Twitter, renaming it X in 2023 around. But 2024 was the year Musk – the richest person in the world, according to Forbes– entered the world of politics. He supported Trump, appeared at rallies, promoted pro-Trump content on X, and helped Trump formulate his presidential agenda. After Trump’s victory, Musk’s power only grew, and the president-elect announced that Musk would co-chair a new commission, the Department of Government Efficiency, to recommend cuts to federal staffing and regulations. Musk was previously named TIME Person of the Year in 2021.

Yulia Navalnaya

Russian economist Yulia Navalnaya has been in the spotlight this year after her husband and the country’s leading dissident, Alexei Navalny, died in February. Navalnaya announced after her husband’s death in prison that she would continue his work. She accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of killing her husband and met with world leaders, including Biden, as Russia continues its war in Ukraine. Navalnaya, dubbed the “first lady” of the Russian opposition, also made TIME’s list of the 100 most influential people of 2024.

Benjamin Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been one of the world’s most influential and controversial leaders this year. Netanyahu defied criticism of his war against Hamas, the terrorist organization that killed 1,200 people in an attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and continued his military assault on the Gaza Strip this year, even as the death toll there rose to 44,056 to the Gaza Ministry of Health. In September, Netanyahu expanded the war to northern Lebanon as Israel killed much of the leadership of Iran’s proxy Hezbollah through airstrikes and the use of explosives hidden in pagers. “We are in the middle of a war, a seven-front war,” Netanyahu told TIME in August. “I think we have to focus on one thing: winning.” In November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants against Netanyahu, his former defense minister and Hamas military chief, on charges of crimes against humanity. Netanyahu was on the TIME100 list in 2019.

JErome Powell

Jerome Powell has been chairman of the Federal Reserve since 2018 and served under both the Trump and Biden administrations. As chairman, he will steer the ship on the economy, which voters have identified as the most important issue in the 2024 election. Although Powell was nominated for the role by Trump, the president-elect repeatedly criticized the Fed during his first term, accusing it of keeping interest rates too high. Powell has since emphasized the importance of the Fed’s independence from political parties and candidates. He has appeared on the TIME100 list twice – in 2019 and 2020 – and was shortlisted for Person of the Year in 2023.

Joe Rogan

Podcaster Joe Rogan is having a great year. The Joe Rogan Experience– a podcast where he talks about current events, comedy, politics and everything in between – was the top podcast on Spotify in 2024 for the fifth year in a row, averaging 11 million listeners per episode, mostly young men. In August, Netflix aired his live stand-up special: Joe Rogan: Burn your boats. In the days before the election, Rogan released a three-hour interview with Trump, whom Rogan later endorsed, with some voters saying the interview influenced their decision. Rogan is a polarizing figure, having faced backlash in the past for spreading misinformation about COVID-19 and using racial slurs on his show. Rogan was on the TIME100 list of most influential people in 2022.

Claudia Sheinbaum

In October, Claudia Sheinbaum made history when she was sworn in as Mexico’s first female president. Sheinbaum, a lifelong leftist, is also the first Jewish leader in the country’s more than 200 years of independence. Sheinbaum focused her campaign on fighting for the poor and took office at a time when Mexico faces problems ranging from a struggling economy to increasing organized violence. After Trump announced his plan to impose a 25% tariff on all products imported into the U.S. from Mexico, Sheinbaum quickly responded forcefully, suggesting that Mexico would retaliate with tariffs against the U.S. Sheinbaum was also on the TIME100 climate list this year.

Donald Trump

In a stunning political comeback, Donald Trump won the 2024 election. He reshaped the American electorate by activating young male voters who led him to a decisive victory that gave him victory in the popular vote for the first time and won every constituency in cast the shadow. Trump’s remarkable victory comes after he lost the 2020 election to Biden and repeatedly refused to accept the results. His victory in 2024 is historic in several ways: He will be the oldest president in U.S. history, and he was convicted by a New York jury earlier this year of 34 counts of fraud, making him the first convicted felon was elected president. During his 2024 campaign, he cited the economy and the border as his top priorities. He has promised to impose tariffs on America’s top trading partners – Mexico, Canada and China – after taking office, worrying economists, and has announced several controversial Cabinet appointments. Trump was previously named TIME’s Person of the Year in 2016, the year he first won the presidency.

Mark Zuckerberg

Mark Zuckerberg came under scrutiny this year as the billionaire Meta CEO addressed government control of Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and other platforms. Earlier this year, Zuckerberg and other tech CEOs were asked about the impact of social media on young people during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. During the 2024 election cycle, election, state and local officials expressed concern about the rampant spread of misinformation on Facebook. Forbes It is estimated that Zuckerberg’s net worth reached $210 billion in December, making him the fourth richest person in the world. He made the TIME100 AI list in 2024 and was named TIME’s Person of the Year in 2010, the year Facebook reached more than half a billion users.