On Thursday, TIME will announce the 2024 Person of the Year.
Since 1927, TIME has named a person, group, or concept that had the biggest impact—for good or for ill—on the world over the previous 12 months. In 2023, TIME selected 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, the Ebola fighters in 2014, and former U.S. President Barack Obama in 2012 and 2008.
Ten candidates, revealed this morning on NBC’s Today show, are under consideration for TIME’s annual designation. Here are the finalists, in alphabetical order by last name.
Kamala Harris
The night of July 21, President Joe Biden announced 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 as Harris sought to become the first woman President. Harris centered her campaign on reproductive rights, slamming former President Donald Trump for his role in the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, and suggested that Trump is a threat to democracy. But she lost to Trump, and conceded the race on Nov. 6.. Harris, along with Biden, was previously on the Person of the Year cover in 2020—the year that the duo defeated Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence.
Kate Middleton
The Princess of Wales made international headlines this year and stirred a conversation about privacy and health for public figures. In January, Kate Middleton was hospitalized for two weeks for a “planned abdominal surgery” and Kensington Palace said she would be out of the public eye until Easter. But after conspiracy theories circulated online in March about Middleton’s whereabouts, the royal put the rumors to rest by revealing that she had been diagnosed with cancer. In September, Middleton announced that she had completed her chemotherapy treatment. Middleton was previously on the TIME100 list of Most Influential People in 2013, and one of the runners-up for Person of the Year in 2011.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk has long been an innovative disrupter. From online payments to electric vehicles to commercial space, the Tesla CEO has upended industry, and in 2022 he purchased and revamped the social media platform previously known as Twitter, rebranding it as X in 2023. But 2024 was the year that Musk—the richest person in the world, according to Forbes—stepped into the world of politics. He endorsed Trump, appeared at rallies, promoted pro-Trump content on X, and helped Trump form his presidential agenda. After Trump’s victory, Musk’s power only grew, and the President-elect announced that Musk would co-lead a new commission, the Department of Government Efficiency, that is expected to propose cuts to the federal workforce and to 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 has met with world leaders, including Biden, as Russia continues its war in Ukraine. Dubbed the “first lady” of the Russian opposition, Navalnaya also made the list of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People of 2024.
Benjamin Netanyahu
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been one of the most influential and controversial world leaders this year. Defying criticism of his war on Hamas, the terrorist organization that killed 1,200 people in an attack against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Netanyahu continued his military assault on the Gaza Strip this year, even as the death toll there rose to 44,056, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. In September, Netanyahu expanded the war to Lebanon in the north, as Israel killed much of the leadership of Iran’s proxy, Hezbollah, with air strikes and using explosives hidden in pagers. “We’re in the midst of a war, a seven-front war,” Netanyahu told TIME in August. “I think we have to concentrate on one thing: winning.” In November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu, his former defense minister, and Hamas’ military chief, on allegations of crimes against humanity. Netanyahu was on the TIME100 list in 2019.
Jerome Powell
Jerome Powell has been chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve since 2018, serving under both the Trump and Biden administrations. As chairman, he’s been steering the ship on the economy, which voters identified as the top 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 in office, accusing it of keeping interest rates too high. Powell has since stressed the importance of the Fed’s independence from political parties and candidates. He’s been on the TIME100 list twice—in 2019 and 2020—and was on the shortlist for Person of the Year in 2023.
Joe Rogan
Podcaster Joe Rogan has had a major 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, and averages 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 leading up to the election, Rogan released a three-hour interview with Trump, who Rogan later endorsed, with some voters saying that the interview influenced their decision. Rogan is a polarizing figure, having faced backlash for spreading COVID-19 misinformation on his show and using racial slurs in the past. 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-ever 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 has taken office at a time when Mexico faces issues ranging from a struggling economy to rising organized violence. After Trump announced his plan to impose a 25% tariff on all products from Mexico coming into the U.S., Sheinbaum was quick to issue a firm response, indicating 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 has reshaped the American electorate, activating young male voters who propelled him to a decisive victory that saw him win the popular vote for the first time and turn every swing state red. Trump’s remarkable victory comes after he lost the 2020 election to Biden and repeatedly refused to accept the results. His 2024 win is history-making in multiple ways: he will be the oldest President in U.S. history, and he was convicted earlier this year by a New York jury of 34 counts of fraud, making him the first convicted felon to be elected President. During his 2024 campaign, he identified the economy and the border as his top priorities. He’s promised to implement tariffs on America’s top trading partners—Mexico, Canada, and China—once he takes 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 won the presidency for the first time.
Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Zuckerberg was under the microscope this year as the billionaire Meta CEO dealt with government scrutiny into Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram, and other platforms. Earlier this year, Zuckerberg and other tech CEOs faced questioning during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the impact of social media on young people. During the 2024 election cycle, election, state, and local officials expressed concern over the rampant spread of misinformation on Facebook. Forbes estimated that, as of December, Zuckerberg’s net worth reached $210 billion, making him the fourth richest person in the world. He made the list for TIME100 AI in 2024, and was named TIME’s Person of the Year in 2010, the year that Facebook surpassed more than half a billion users.
