Methodology

Into the ranking. Into the story.

The first vote puts someone forward. Find an existing person or work, or add their name and a source. Their first settled paid vote brings them into the ranking with a provisional profile.

The public decides the order. Every settled paid vote adds to a subject's single annual total, which places them on every board they are eligible for — global, regional, field and category at once. There are no jury points, no hidden weights and no editorial scores anywhere in the ordering.

Time earns consideration for a story. After at least 100 cumulative hours in the Global Top 100 of their People or Works edition, a profile becomes a candidate for editorial review. Editors check the facts, sources and media rights before publishing. Crossing the threshold never publishes a story automatically.

Payment determines inclusion and rank. It never buys favorable copy, an endorsement or protection from correction.

What a vote is

• For the 2026 edition, US$1 paid equals one vote. The total is shown before checkout.
• Repeat voting is unlimited. Voting for yourself is allowed.
• Companies, teams, families and communities may vote.
• No caps, no diminishing returns, no unique-voter weighting.
• Anyjoi GmbH is the legal payment recipient. The ranked person or work receives exposure — not the money.

What makes a count real

• Only payments settled by our payment provider change a position.
• A confirmation screen or redirect never changes a rank.
• Failed, canceled or incomplete payments create zero votes.
• Duplicate provider events add nothing.
• Refunds and confirmed chargebacks remove exactly the votes they reverse. The payment history remains auditable.

How an edition closes

Money ranks. Time qualifies. Silence closes.

• Cumulative settled votes determine order throughout the edition.
• Time in the Global Top 100 accumulates throughout an edition, even when a person or work leaves and later returns.
• At the end of the edition, boards close after ten quiet minutes. The clock resets whenever a settled vote changes the graduating order.
• When a Class is published it becomes an immutable historical record. Later corrections produce linked, visible correction versions instead of silent edits.
• A new edition resets votes and qualifying time. Alumni history stays.

Ties

If two subjects hold the same total, the one who reached that total first stands higher. If both reached it in the same second, the stable subject identifier breaks the tie — deterministically, the same way every time.