James Bond Ranks #1 on AskMen's Top 49 Most Influential Men of 2012

Bond is joined by Usain Bolt, Bill Clinton, Seth MacFarlane, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt to round out the top 5 positions on the 2012 list. According to AskMen editors, the results of this list illustrates a "new era" of men emerging with 27 out of the 49 nominees making the list for the very first time including Frank Ocean, Snoop Lion, Neil Patrick Harris, Michael Fassbender,Tim Tebow, and Alec Baldwin.  Media makers including Michael Phelps, LeBron James, and Prince William also made the list.

With a presidential election coming up, voters elected Bill Clinton to the No. 3 position, Barack Obama to No. 11, and Mitt Romney to No. 24.

Another trend from this list is men in the public eye who recently "reinvented" themselves to adjust with the changing times. This includes: No. 1 James Bond who has transformed over a period of 50 years and 23 different movies; Snoop Lion who went from being one of the most celebrated rappers in history to becoming one of the most anticipated reggae artists; and Howard Sternwho went from radio personality to TV personality this year.

Referring to recent conversations about the "end of men" James Bassil, Editor-in-chief of AskMen says: "Despite the regular reminders that our gender has reached its end, AskMen's Top 49 list offers up plenty of examples of men who have sustained success -- and others who found it anew through reinventing themselves, just as many of our readers have had to in recent years." He continues, "Through 2012, Top 49 staples like Kanye West and Jose Mourinho have kept building on what they've always been good at, while new arrivals like Snoop Lion have yielded their influence through new paths. We're especially excited to see adventurers like Elon Musk and Felix Baumgartner on the final list -- bring on the new space age!"

The complete roster of this year's Top 49 Most Influential Men of 2012, including profiles of each honoree, can be found at http://www.askmen.com/specials/top_49_men/. In order, the Top 49 are:

1. James Bond
2. Usain Bolt
3. Bill Clinton
4. Seth MacFarlane
5. Joseph Gordon-Levitt
6. Jimmy Kimmel
7. Elon Musk
8. Frank Ocean
9. Kevin Systrom & Mike Krieger
10. Ryan Gosling
11. Barack Obama
12. Michael Phelps
13. ChristIan Grey
14. The replacement refs
15. Christopher Nolan
16. Liam Neeson
17. Riad Al Assad
18. Joss Whedon
19. Peter Higgs
20. Price William
21. Bryan Cranston
22. Jay-Z
23. Jeff Bezos
24. Mitt Romney
25. Neil deGrasse Tyson
26. Billy Reid
27. Michael Fassbender
28. Quentin Tarantino
29. Felix Baumgartner
30. Jose Mourinho
31. Kanye West
32. Lebron James
33. Andy Murray
34. Drake
35. Markus Persson
36. Snoop Lion
37. Howard Stern
38. Neil Patrick Harris
39. Psy
40. Jonah Peretti
41. James Cameron
42. John Maynard Keynes
43. Adam Driver
44. Tim Tebow
45. Gotye
46. Harvey Weinstein
47. Tony Horton
48. Tom Hardy
49. Alec Baldwin

Notably missing from this year's list are George Clooney (ranked No. 14 in 2011) Tom Brady (ranked No. 15 in 2011), andJustin Timberlake (ranked No. 47 in 2011), while some returning honorees, such as Jimmy Kimmel, has experienced significant shifts in ranking, rising from No. 26 in 2008 to No. 6 in 2012. Seth MacFarlane also jumped from No. 27 in 2009 to No. 4 in 2012.

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