Who Will Win Time Person of the Year For 2023?

Betting sites have pushed Elon Musk level with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the race to be named Time Person of the Year 2023.

Tesla and Space X founder Musk, who bought Twitter last year and rebranded it X in 2023, is tipped jointly with Ukraine president Zelenskyy to win the Time gong for the second time in three years.

The controversial businessman has used his newly purchased social media platform to court influence around the world. 

He’s hosted presidential candidates on X, expressed his views on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and been accused of endorsing anti-semitic posts on the platform.

The Time Person of the Year accolade is not always handed to the best person, but the most influential. 

In past years journalists who have faced persecution, figureheads of the MeToo movement and grassroots protestors have all won the award. So, too, have Vladimir Putin, Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin.

Zelenskyy has been the frontrunner for the award for most of the year after he won it in 2022, alongside The Spirit of Ukraine.

And in the past few weeks Taylor Swift - a joint-winner in 2017 - has emerged as a contender for the 2023 gong.

Bookmakers still reckon it’s a toss-up between Musk and Zelenskyy, but the battle to be 2023 Time Person of the Year is far from over.

Ukraine president Zelenskyy won it in 2022, beating the likes of Vladimir Putin, Queen Elizabeth II and Donald Trump to the honour.

Calling it an honour may not be strictly speaking correct, though. After all, Time Magazine’s award isn’t for the best person, just the most influential. 

Previous winners of the award include President Putin in 2007, Joseph Stalin (twice) and Adolf Hitler in 1938.

While comedian-turned-politician Zelenskyy is taking the fight to Russia, Musk is now joint-favourite to be named Time Person of the Year in 2023 and his price is falling.

Musk is no politician but his influence stretches far and wide. Since the South African bought Twitter, now ‘X’, he has used the platform to air his sometimes controversial views, and has tried to alter the way the platform works. 

In October, he used X to post a meme targeted at Zelenskyy, which read: “When it’s been 5 min and you haven’t asked for a billion dollars in aid”.

Musk was favourite to be named Time Person of the Year in 2023 and is still in the running. 

Social media owners have won before - Mark Zuckerberg got the gong in 2010 when Facebook surpassed half a billion users. The winner of 2023 will be announced in December, so we’re still a good way off knowing Time’s decision. 

But that hasn’t stopped bookmakers from drafting their latest odds on  for each candidate…

Elon Musk

Bookies threw Musk in as favourite at 2.5 when they opened this market, only to nudge his price out. He has now come back in to 2.0.

Rarely do people win Time Person of the Year more than once - and both Musk and Zelenskyy are previous winners.

Musk is increasingly using his X platform to stoke controversy and keep eyeballs on his site. 

It’s working for now but there may be a limit to how many tricks the 52-year-old can play here.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Bookmakers think the winner in 2022 could well claim this award again. President Zelenskyy has the backing of the West and his Ukrainian army has already proved highly effective in fighting off Russian aggression.

Zelenskyy often goes on public relations tours in Europe to generate further support for Ukraine. He has worked hard to convince many sceptical nations - including America - to maintain its funding for the fight against Russia.

His efforts didn’t win him the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize as the gong went to Iranian human rights activist Narges Mohammadi. 

However, Zelenskyy is still leading the race alongside Musk for the Time award, at 2.0.

Taylor Swift

Parachuted in to third favourite late in the year, Taylor Swift has a 16.7% chance of being named 2023 Time Person of the Year. 

Swift began her Eras Tour this year and it has broken records across the world. On top of this, her personal life has come under the spotlight with her dating of NFL star Travis Kelce.

She was recognised in 2017 as one of the Silence Breakers who won the Time award for speaking out against sexual abuse and harassment. 

In an interview with Time, she said: “The brave women and men who have come forward this year have all moved the needle in terms of letting people know that this abuse of power shouldn’t be tolerated.”

Swift is not about to broker a peace deal in the Middle East or help tackle climate change. However, her influence is widespread – as evidenced in 2017 – and she could be a surprise winner here at 6.0.

Joe Biden

Another candidate for the Time gong, having won it before, is incumbent president Joe Biden.

However, political betting sites have shifted the Biden odds further out in recent months and he now sits at 8.0 to win.

Biden’s influence appears to be waning. He is struggling for support at home and is embroiled in political wrangling with both China and Russia.

Biden appears a strange choice here, but the bookies are likely hedging their bets. 

After all, it doesn’t take much for a US president to suddenly be at the forefront of global affairs.

Iran Protesters

The protests that swept Iran in late 2021 continued for almost a year, and protestors are still expressing their deep anger against the ruling Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and president Ebrahim Raisi’s government. 

While the majority of the protests have been quelled for now, fresh dissent is still erupting in the country. 

Iran has killed at least 481 protestors and the death penalty has been used as punishment in court trials. 

But the population appears not to be cowed by the aggression. Bookies price them at 9.0 to be named Time Persons of the Year.

Janet Yellen

The United States treasury secretary has a near-impossible job on her hands. 

Janet Yellen is tasked with steering the country through choppy economic waters, while also fending off Chinese and Russian economic aggression. 

Yellen is as much a skilled politician as she is a top-class economist and she’s 9.0 to get the Time gong.

King Charles III

He was crowned this summer and Charles III isn’t hanging about now he’s king. 

The British monarch has already waded into the climate debate since he succeeded his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II. 

He’s also done a tour of a number of European countries, including a rare trip to Germany, and appears to be thriving in the role. King Charles is 10.0 with bookies to be Time Person of the Year 2023.

Xi Jinping

At 11.0, with exchange betting sites, Xi Jinping is an outside bet to be Time Person of the Year.

The Chinese president has been in the post since 2013, and has been instrumental in China’s emergence as a superpower over the past decade. 

Now with his eyes on Hong Kong, Taiwan and other territories, Xi Jinping cannot be ignored by the Time judges. What’s more, his warm relations with Russian president Vladimir Putin has exposed his stance in the Ukraine war. 

President Xi says there needs to be peace talks, but Ukraine insists they won’t come to the table unless they can reclaim all territory stolen by Russia. 

How far Xi is prepared to go to prop up Russia remains to be seen. But China’s role in ending the war could well be crucial.

Merrick Garland

The US Attorney General has a lot on his plate. Merrick Garland gets dragged into plenty of political issues, and right now has a brief that covers Ukraine, Julian Assange and Donald Trump. 

His presence in the various Trump controversies that threaten to land the former president in hot water hasn’t gone unnoticed. 

He’s not expected to prosecute Trump, but were he to have a role in the businessman’s fall from grace then his odds here could well come in shorter than 15.0 with bookies.

Time Person of the Year Multiple Winners

Zelenskyy, Musk and Biden have already been named Time Person of the Year in the past. All three are in the running for the award again.

Most of the Time Magazine multiple winners are former US presidents, which makes sense when you consider Time is an American publication.

• Franklin D. Roosevelt (1932, 1934, 1941)
• Joseph Stalin (1939, 1942)
• George C. Marshall (1943, 1947)
• Harry S. Truman (1945, 1948)
• Sir Winston Churchill (1940, 1949)
• Dwight D. Eisenhower (1944, 1959)
• Lyndon B. Johnson (1964, 1967)
• Richard Nixon (1971, 1972)
• Ronald Regan (1980, 1983)
• Deng Xiaoping (1978, 1985)
• Mikhail Gorbachev (1987, 1989)
• Bill Clinton (1992, 1998)
• George W. Bush (2000, 2004)
• Barack Obama (2008, 2012)

But multiple winners have become fewer and fewer in recent decades. Only George W Bush and Barack Obama have won on multiple occasions this century.