With a market capitalization of 3.12 trillion U.S. dollars as of May 2024, Microsoft was the world’s largest company that year. Rounding out the top five were some of the world’s most recognizable brands: Apple, NVIDIA, Google’s parent company Alphabet, and Amazon. Saudi Aramco led the ranking of the world's most profitable companies in 2023, with a pre-tax income of nearly 250 billion U.S. dollars. How are market value and market capitalization determined? Market value and market capitalization are two terms frequently used – and confused - when discussing the profitability and viability of companies. Strictly speaking, market capitalization (or market cap) is the worth of a company based on the total value of all their shares; an important metric when determining the comparative value of companies for trading opportunities. Accordingly, many stock exchanges such as the New York or London Stock Exchange release market capitalization data on their listed companies. On the other hand, market value technically refers to what a company is worth in a much broader context. It is determined by multiple factors, including profitability, corporate debt, and the market environment as a whole. In this sense it aims to estimate the overall value of a company, with share price only being one element. Market value is therefore useful for determining whether a company’s shares are over- or undervalued, and in arriving at a price if the company is to be sold. Such valuations are generally made on a case-by-case basis though, and not regularly reported. For this reason, market capitalization is often reported as market value. What are the top companies in the world? The answer to this question depends on the metric used. Although the largest company by market capitalization, Microsoft's global revenue did not manage to crack the top 20 companies. Rather, American multinational retailer Walmart was ranked as the largest company in the world by revenue. Walmart also had the highest number of employees in the world.

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is the largest stock exchange in the world, with an equity market capitalization of almost 36 trillion U.S. dollars as of June 2025. The following three exchanges were the NASDAQ, PINK Exchange, and the Frankfurt Exchange. What is a stock exchange? A stock exchange is a marketplace where stockbrokers, traders, buyers, and sellers can trade in equities products. The largest exchanges have thousands of listed companies. These companies sell shares of their business, giving the general public the opportunity to invest in them. The oldest stock exchange worldwide is the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, founded in the late sixteenth century. Other functions of a stock exchange Since these are publicly traded companies, every firm listed on a stock exchange has had an initial public offering (IPO). The largest IPOs can raise billions of dollars in equity for the firm involved. Related to stock exchanges are derivatives exchanges, where stock options, futures contracts, and other derivatives can be traded.

The NYSE U.S. 100 Index tracks the largest U.S. companies traded on the New York Stock Exchange. This statistic shows the leading 20 companies on the NYSE U.S. 100 Index by market capitalization. As of January 28, 2024 the multinational conglomerate company Berkshire Hathaway ranked as the first, with a market capitalization of over 900 billion euros. This was followed by Eli Lilly and JP Morgan Chase, with market capitalizations amounting to 695 billion and 678 billion euros respectively. NYSE U.S. 100 Index vs. Nasdaq 100 Index The New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq are the largest two stock exchanges in the world, but they differ in the kinds of companies they list. The NYSE is known to list stable and long-lasting firms, commonly referred to as “blue-chip” companies. In contrast, the Nasdaq is renowned for listing the world’s biggest companies, mainly from the tech industry. Similar to the NYSE U.S. 100 Index, the Nasdaq 100 Index tracks the 100 largest non-financial companies listed on the Nasdaq exchange, including both U.S. and non-U.S. companies. The leader of the NYSE U.S. 100 index: Berkshire Hathaway Berkshire Hathaway, the leader of the NYSE U.S. 100 Index, was also among the world's largest companies by revenue in 2023. The company is a multinational conglomerate and holding company with insurance as its core business and interests in other sectors such as railroad, utilities and energy, finance. In fact, Berkshire was the world's biggest insurance company by revenue in 2023. As a holding company, it has significant stakes in some of the world’s largest companies, including Apple, Bank of America and Coca-Cola. With its diverse background in various businesses and industries, Berkshire Hathaway had a total revenue of 365 billion U.S. dollars in 2023.

In 1989, the Industrial Bank of Japan had a market capitalization of approximately 104.29 billion U.S dollars, making it the largest company in the world at the time. Six of the ten largest companies worldwide in 1989 were based in Japan while the remaining four were American, highlighting the economic dominance of these two countries in the late 1980s.

As of March 2025, Fomento Económico Mexicano, a multinational beverage and retail company headquartered in Monterey, was the largest public company in Latin America, with a market capitalization of nearly 175 billion U.S. dollars. MercadoLibre follows with a market cap of about 98 billion U.S. dollars, while Petrobas, a Brazilian energy company, takes the third spot with a market cap of 79 billion U.S. dollars.

In 2009, Ecxxon Mobil Corp had a market capitalization of approximately 327.71 billion U.S dollars, making it the largest company in the world at the time. Five of the ten largest companies worldwide in 2009 were based in the United States, with three from Europe and two from China.

Astrazeneca was the leading pharmaceutical company in the United Kingdom as of March 7, 2024, with a market capitalization amounting to approximately 202.4 billion U.S. dollars. GlaxoSmithKline followed as the second largest pharma company in the country, with market capitalization of nearly 86.7 billion U.S. dollars. Examining the development of the FTSE 100 Index, which was launched in January 1984 with a base level of 1,000, increased by more than sevenfold to date. What is the FTSE 100 index? The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, commonly known as the "Footsie", is the most widely recognized stock market index in the United Kingdom. It is made up of the 100 largest blue-chip companies on the London Stock Exchange. Companies from various sectors, such as healthcare, consumer goods, and energy, are included in the index, as are leading banks of the United Kingdom, such as HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, and Barclays. Moreover, it can be seen as a reflection of the investment climate in the United Kingdom. What is not included in the FTSE 100 Index? Most notably, the FTSE 100 Index, like most indices, is not adjusted for inflation. While inflation in the United Kingdom has gone down dramatically since 2023, it might be useful to adjust the historic figures on the index when comparing historic data to current levels. This is especially important when the index seems to have increased by a few percentage points because inflation may have increased at a faster rate than stock prices.

With the growth of the Chinese economy, an increasing number of Chinese companies are appearing on the Forbes Global 2000 list. Tencent Holdings was the Chinese company with the largest market value. Its market value amounted to around 472.33 billion U.S. dollars in 2023.

Chinese companies on Forbes Global 2000

China had the second highest number of companies on this list, trailing behind the United States. Among the first ten public companies on the Global 2000 ranking, three were companies headquartered in China. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) ranked as first Chinese enterprise on Forbes Global 2000 ranking. The leading four Chinese companies on the 2024 ranking are all from the financial sector.

The rise of China's tech-giants

Besides companies from the financial sector and energy sector, China's biggest internet companies Tencent and Alibaba also had good rankings. Both companies have grown significantly over the past years due to the rapid development of the internet business sector and the huge market in China. However, they have fallen back in the global ranking recently due to Beijing's tightened control of the tech sector. Both companies are investing a lot in the application of artificial intelligence to improve their working efficiency and clients’ experience.

As of October 10, 2024, the largest company listed on the Australian stock exchange was Commonwealth Bank, with a total market capitalization of nearly 228 billion Australian dollars. The financial sector dominated the list of the largest Australian domestic companies, with five of the top 10 companies being either retail or investment banking groups.

Vinci, a concessions and construction company with headquarters in France, was in 2023 the construction company with the highest market capitalization in the world. While the Larsen & Toubro Ltd. had a market cap of 37 billion U.S. dollars, Vinci's market cap amounted to 71 billion U.S. dollars.

As of April 10, 2025, tech giants Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Alphabet (Google), and Amazon dominated the S&P 500 index and were among only eight companies with a market capitalization exceeding one trillion U.S. dollars in the U.S.

The Nasdaq 100 Index tracks the largest domestic and international non-financial companies listed on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange. This statistic shows the leading 20 companies on the Nasdaq 100 Index by market capitalization. As of January 2025, the American technology company Apple ranked first, with a market capitalization of over three trillion euros. This was followed by Amazon, with a market capitalization amounting to 2.2 trillion euros.

As of May 2025, Amazon was the biggest internet company worldwide with a market cap of over ************ U.S. dollars Second-ranked Alphabet had a market capitalization of **** trillion U.S. dollars. The end of the 1990s in the United States saw the rise of a great number of internet companies, also called online companies or a variety of the name “dot com,” where the “.com” domain is derived from the word commercial. At the time, such startups were merely riding the wave of early internet business, but had little capital and perhaps one good idea. Few companies have survived the burst of the dot com bubble and even fewer have managed to become internationally successful. A few notable exceptions are American companies such as Google (founded in 1998), Amazon (founded in 1994) or eBay Inc. (founded in 1995), and the Chinese online giant Alibaba (founded in 1998), which have come to be some of the largest internet companies in the world. One of the largest internet companies worldwide is currently Alphabet, the parent company of Google, with a market capitalization of **** trillion U.S. dollars as of May 2025. Having started as a PhD project at Stanford University, the Google project slowly gained traction and is now the number one search engine in the world, with a market share of ** percent on the search engine market. Due to a number of high profile acquisitions, Google has expanded its portfolio beyond search, to include the video content sharing site YouTube, the digital app platform Google Play Store, the webmail service Gmail and the web browser Google Chrome, to only name a few. In October 2015, Google reorganized itself into a newly created parent company, the multinational conglomerate Alphabet Inc. The biggest internet companies in terms of their workforce are currently Amazon, Alphabet and Meta.

In January 2025, LVMH was by far the clothing company with the highest market capitalization, at approximately 370.5 billion U.S. dollars. LVMH's market capitalization was almost 80 billion dollars more than Nike, the company in second place. Dior made up the top five companies. As would be expected, several of the companies in this list can also be found in the list of leading clothing companies with the highest brand value. LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (The LMVH Group) is comprised of some of the most famous and iconic brands in the world: as well as Luis Vuitton, LVMH also owns brands such as Dior and Givenchy. The success of LMVH is clear to see in their global revenue from fashion and leather goods, which has more than tripled in size from 2016 to 2023. Sportswear On what some may see as the opposite side of the clothing spectrum, many of the leading clothing companies are actually sportswear companies. The presence of Nike, Adidas, and Lululemon athletica in this list demonstrates the increased popularity of athletic apparel and activewear, not just for sport, but also as fashion and everyday apparel. In line with this popularity, these companies are among the top three sportswear brands by market capitalization.

ExxonMobil has the highest market capitalization of any oil and gas producer worldwide. As of December 18, 2024, the United States-based company had a market cap of 474.71 billion U.S. dollars. Big Oil's place among the ten leading oil and gas companies Of the five largest companies in this ranking, three were considered Big Oil companies. Meanwhile, the Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries, which operates the world's largest oil refinery complex and is also involved in retail and telecommunications, ranked fourth, with a market cap of nearly 200 billion U.S. dollars. KPI's of top oil & gas companies While there has been little change in which companies are counted among the largest within their industry, their ranking varies depending on the metric used. Although ExxonMobil has often ranked first in terms of market capitalization, state-owned enterprises such as China's Sinopec are more likely to be found on top of a list of leading oil and gas companies worldwide based on revenue. State-owned enterprises such as Gazprom and PetroChina are furthermore the leading oil and gas companies worldwide based on employment. In 2023 and 2024, their respective workforce consisted of around 400,000 employees.

Hong Kong's Main Board at the Hong Kong Exchange was led by mainland Chinese tech companies. The top two enterprises based on market capitalization were Tencent and Alibaba, with a market value of 2.6 billion Hong Kong dollars and 1.4 billion Hong Kong dollars, respectively. Many companies from mainland China decide to list on the stock exchange in Hong Kong because it gives them access to global capital while maintaining proximity to the PRC.

As of June 2, 2025, Nvidia ranked as the leading semiconductor company in terms of market capitalization at just under 3.3 trillion U.S. dollars, followed by the likes of Broadcom, TSMC, ASML, and Samsung. Many of the leading semiconductor stocks suffered as a result of trade tariff announcements in 2025. Nonetheless, the mix of companies featured on the list reflects the broad and complex nature of the semiconductor industry, with firms coming from across all parts of the chip ecosystem. Regional highlights The global semiconductor industry is dominated by companies from North America and the Asia-Pacific region. As a result, China, South Korea, and Taiwan rank as some of the biggest regional markets for semiconductor equipment spending. One of the world’s leading chip-making machine manufacturers, and a global leader in producing extreme ultraviolet lithography, or EUV, machines, is ASML based in Europe. ASML supplies its machines to the likes of TSMC, who are then contracted to manufacture chips for Nvidia. A dynamic industry In 2025, the semiconductor industry is expected to grow strongly, with forecasts suggesting the market could rise to just below 700 billion U.S. dollars. Nonetheless, companies across the whole supply chain must continue to navigate a challenging and changing world. Geopolitical tensions, such as the ongoing tech competition between the United States and China, as well as the growth of the AI chip market, will have a profound influence on the semiconductor industry moving forward.

In 2023, Attijariwafa Bank was the largest company and financial institution in Morocco based on market capitalization. Its outstanding shares had a market value of around 8.34 billion U.S. dollars. The following leading enterprises in Morocco were telecommunication companies and financial institutions. Maroc Telecom had a market capitalization of roughly 7.31 billion U.S. dollars, while the Banque Centrale Populaire was valued at 4.5 billion U.S. dollars.

Morocco’s titans of industry: Attijariwafa Bank and Maroc Telecom

Attijariwafa Bank was the largest company in Morocco in 2023. The financial institution showed a remarkable increase in net income from 2020 to 2022. Furthermore, Attijariwafa Bank had 3,614 bank branches in Morocco and numerous branches in several African regions. In its turn, Maroc Telecom was the second largest company and preeminent telecommunications firm in Morocco and holds most telecommunication towers in the nation. In 2021, the annual revenue of Maroc Telecom stood at 35.8 billion Moroccan dirhams (around 3.55 billion U.S. dollars). However, it represented a decrease from the previous year when the company recorded a peak revenue of 36.7 billion Moroccan dirhams (3.64 billion U.S. dollars).

Expanding the perspective to the African continent

Taking a step back to compare Africa’s leading companies of 2023, both Attijariwafa Bank and Maroc Telecom made it to the list, ranking 14th and 19th, respectively. In 2020, as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, large companies in Africa primarily sought financial solutions from commercial banks. According to a survey, 60 percent of the companies surveyed reported using commercial banks as their primary funding source.

The market capitalization of companies in the United States was almost nine times than that of China in 2024, making up a large share of the world's total market capitalization. Listed companies in the U.S. had a total market capitalization of over 61 trillion U.S. dollars - against seven trillion U.S. dollars recorded by second-placed China in 2024. Japan ranked third with a total market capitalization of just over 4.7 trillion U.S. dollars.

Investor AB, was the leading company by market capitalization in Sweden as of October 10, 2024. The Swedish investment company had a market cap of approximately 89.59 billion U.S. dollars. Atlas Copco and Spotify were the other largest companies, with a market cap of 86.55 and 75.1 billion U.S. dollars, respectively.