Who Will Be Time’s 2025 Person of the Year? Oddsmakers Reveal Early Favorites
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Frank Ammirante
- August 5, 2025
Time Magazine’s Person of the Year is one of the most anticipated honors in media and culture, recognizing the individual or group with the most influence on the world. With betting odds now live for 2025, speculation is heating up across political, tech, and entertainment circles.
The official announcement is expected in early December 2025, but you can place your wagers at BetOnline until August 31st. Simply click the “Menu” on the left side and then “Entertainment” on available markets to find Time Person of the Year.
What the Odds Say
Here at BookMakers Review, we’ve gathered the latest Time Person of the Year odds for 2025 from BetOnline:
- AI (+150)
- Pope Leo XIV (+200)
- Donald Trump (+250)
- Elon Musk (+500)
- Pope Francis (+600)
- Mr. Beast (+800)
- Jerome Powell (+1000)
- Joe Rogan (+1200)
- JD Vance (+1400)
- Xi Jinping (+1600)
AI emerges as the heavy favorite at +150, highlighting massive public and media attention on breakthroughs in artificial intelligence. Close behind is Pope Leo XIV (+200), whose unexpected rise in global influence as head of the Catholic church has captured widespread interest.
Next in line are Donald Trump (+250) and Elon Musk (+500), both polarizing figures. Pope Francis holds strong at +600, continuing to be a major spiritual and social force worldwide.
Underdogs with value include Mr. Beast (+800), the social media philanthropist; Jerome Powell (+1000), U.S. Federal Reserve Chair; Joe Rogan (+1200), influential media personality; and JD Vance (+1400), current U.S. vice president.
Who’s Leading the Race for Time Person of the Year?
Artificial Intelligence is also a major contender. The rapid integration of AI into everyday life, from business tools to cultural debates, makes it a timely and transformative force that could easily be recognized as the year’s most influential entity.
While this would be an unconventional choice, it wouldn’t be shocking to see this result.
Pope Leo XIV is the next favorite. As the first American-born pope, his historic election and early impact on global religious dialogue have drawn significant attention.
After being suggested as a candidate for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize by the government of Pakistan, you can’t rule out Donald Trump winning Time Person of the Year. However, after winning this in 2024, it’s hard to see a second consecutive victory.
The same goes for Elon Musk, whose continued influence across space exploration, artificial intelligence, and electric vehicles keeps him at the center of both innovation and controversy, which aligns well with Time’s selection criteria. However, Musk won back in 2021, making it less likely that he’ll win again so soon.
Previous Time Person of the Year Winners
Here is a look at previous winners of Time Person of the Year:
- 2024: Donald Trump
- 2023: Taylor Swift
- 2022: The Spirit of Ukraine
- 2021: Elon Musk
- 2020: Joe Biden & Kamala Harris
Our Pick for Time Person of the Year
Our pick for 2025 Time Person of the Year is AI. It wouldn’t be the first time that Time awarded Person of the Year in a non-traditional way, as they gave it to The Spirit of Ukraine back in 2022, which was a symbolic gesture towards Ukraine during their war with Russia.
With AI’s rapidly expanding influence on everyday life over the last year, this makes the most sense for Time Person of the Year in 2025. Even as the heavy favorite at +150 odds, AI is the best bet here.
