Alexander Rinnooy Kan, chairman of the government advisory body SER, is the most influential person in the Netherlands, according to the new Volkskrant’s Top 200 published on Saturday.

Rinnooy Kan, who took up his position in August 2006, told the paper that ‘information is the basis of influence and knowledge is power’.
The SER chairman replaces Elco Brinkman, chairman of the umbrella organisation for the construction industry, who was in top position last year but now moves to number two. The rest of the top five is made up by Jeroen van der Veer (CEO Shell), Gerard Kleisterlee (Philips) and Ad Scheepbouwer (KPN).
The Top 200 list contains just 29 women, 15% of the total. The highest placed is Agnes Jongerius, chairwoman of the FNV trade union federation, who rises two places to number 14.