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 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 ***** ranked first, with a market capitalization of over ***** trillion euros. This was followed by ******, with a market capitalization amounting to *** trillion euros.

In 2009, Ecxxon Mobil Corp had a market capitalization of approximately ****** 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.

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 ****************** ranked as the first, with a market capitalization of over *** billion euros. This was followed by ********* and ***************, with market capitalizations amounting to *** billion and *** 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 *** 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.

Astrazeneca was the leading pharmaceutical company in the United Kingdom as of March 7, 2024, with a market capitalization amounting to approximately ***** billion U.S. dollars. GlaxoSmithKline followed as the second largest pharma company in the country, with market capitalization of nearly **** 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.

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is the largest stock exchange in the world, with an equity market capitalization of almost ** 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.

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 *** ******** U.S. dollars in the U.S.

As of January 2025, the largest company by market capitalization listed on the Euronext stock exchange was the French luxury goods company ****, which consists of ********************************. At this time, the company's market capital value was around *** billion euros and in second place was another French company, ********************, with *** billion euros. Euronext overview Headquartered in Paris and Amsterdam, the exchange operator Euronext stands out as one of the rest of the worldwide exchanges, Euronext has only been in operation for 25 years and was initially created through the merger of the Amsterdam, Brussels, and Paris stock exchanges. Nevertheless, it has swiftly gained global recognition. Market performance monthly market capitalization values across European stock exchanges from 2019 to 2024, reflecting sustained growth over this period.

The value of global domestic equity market increased from 65.04 trillion U.S. dollars in 2013 to 124.63 trillion U.S. dollars in 2023. The United States was by far the leading country with the largest share of total world stocks as of 2024. Global market capitalization in different regions The market capitalization of domestic companies listed varied across different regions of the world. As of Decmber 2024, the Americas region had the largest domestic equity market, totaling 62 trillion U.S. dollars. This region is home to the NYSE and Nasdaq, which are the two largest stock exchange operators in the world. The market capitalization of these two exchanges alone exceeded 60 billion U.S. dollars as of January 2025, larger than the total market capitalization in the Asia-Pacific, and in the EMEA regions in the same period. Largest Stock Exchanges in Latin America As of December 2024, the B3 (Brasil Bolsa Balcao) was the biggest stock exchange in Latin America in terms of market capitalization and the second-largest in terms of number of listed companies. Following the B3 were the Mexican Stock Exchange and the Santiago Stock Exchange in Chile. The most valuable company in Latin America is listed on the Mexican Stock Exchange: Fomento Económico Mexicano, a multinational beverage and retail company headquartered in Monterrey, had market cap of 177 billion U.S. dollars as of March 2025.

As of May 23, 2025, Microsoft was the leading tech company by market capitalization globally at 3.38 trillion U.S. dollars. Nvidia ranked second at 3.24 trillion U.S. dollars. Tech company stocks were impacted through 2025 as a result of various global tariff threats by the United States government. Apple among the leaders Since its foundation in a Californian garage in 1976, Apple has expanded massively, becoming one of the most valuable companies in the world. The company started its origins in the PC industry with the Macintosh, but soon entered other segments of the consumer electronics market. Today, the iPhone is the most popular Apple product, although Mac, iPad, wearables, and services also contribute to its high revenues. Aiming at innovation, Apple invests every year in research and development, spanning a wide array of technologies from AI through to extended reality. Nvidia's immense growth With a focus that began with origins in gaming, Nvidia's business strategy has been transformed by demand from data centers that sit at the heart of the AI boom. The company's chips have been favored to support in the training and running of a range of large language models, most notably in the development of OpenAI's ChatGPT.

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.

In recent years, cybersecurity has become a topic of crucial importance. This trend has brought with it the emergence of multibillion-dollar companies such as Palo Alto Networks, CrowdStrike, and Fortinet. In 2025, California-based Palo Alto was the most valuable company in the cybersecurity sector, with a market capitalization exceeding 100 billion U.S. dollars. Among the 10 leading cybersecurity firms in terms of market capitalization, eight were based in the United States. A booming market Information Technology (IT) security, more commonly known as cybersecurity, refers to the practice of managing access to information, whether that is securing information from unauthorized access or verifying the identity of those who claim to have the authority to access information. In 2024, the cybersecurity products and services market was forecast to be worth around 210 billion U.S. dollars, with most of the global spending concentrated on security services - a segment comprising consulting, hardware support, and implementation, among other services. Outsourcing security services Companies worldwide continue to migrate their data to the cloud. While this allows them to increase their business capacity and reduce costs, it also leaves them exposed to innumerable risks. Hence, the Security as a Service (SECaaS) market was estimated at 20 billion U.S. dollars in 2023 and was forecast to be four times larger by 2032. This business model is based on a service provider that incorporates their security services into business infrastructure based on a subscription that individuals or corporations can purchase without requiring additional on-premises hardware.

The global banking sector has seen significant growth in recent years, with the market capitalization of the 100 largest banks reaching 7.4 trillion euros in early 2025. This marks the highest value observed since 2016, reflecting a strong recovery and expansion in the banking industry. The upward trend is particularly noteworthy given the fluctuations experienced in previous years, including the sharp decline during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Chinese banks dominate global rankings While market capitalization provides one measure of bank size, total assets offer another perspective. In 2023, Chinese banks occupied the top four positions globally based on total assets, with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) leading at approximately 6.3 trillion U.S. dollars. However, when ranked by market capitalization, JPMorgan Chase took the top spot, with ICBC falling to third place. This highlights the different metrics used to assess bank size and influence in the global financial landscape. China's banking sector continues to expand The growth in market capitalization of the world's largest banks is mirrored by the expansion of China's banking sector. By 2023, the number of banking institutions in China had reached 4,425, showing relative stability in recent years after a period of increase. Additionally, the value of bank assets in China amounted to over 50 trillion U.S. dollars in 2023, nearly tripling over the past decade. This rapid growth underscores China's increasing importance in the global banking industry and its potential influence on overall market capitalization trends.

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

******* was the leading company in Spain by market capitalization as of October 10, 2024. Their market cap amounted to approximately ****** billion U.S. dollars at that time. ******* was founded in 1985 and emerged as one of the biggest textile companies in the world. On the other hand, Iberdrola was the second largest company by market cap in the country, reaching ***** billion U.S. dollars.

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.

************ was the leading domestic company in Japan based on market capitalization, which amounted to around **** trillion Japanese yen in June 2025. ****************************** ranked second with a market capitalization of about **** trillion yen. With an aggregate market capitalization of over *** trillion yen in 2024, the Tokyo Stock Exchange is one of the largest stock exchanges in the world.

As of May 2025, the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca was the leading company listed on the London Exchange (LSE), with a market capitalization of 159 billion British pounds. This made them the largest of all companies listed on the LSE. Seen as the heart of the global financial community, the London Stock Exchange is the second-largest stock market in Europe and ranks eighth globally. Key information The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is among the largest stock market operators globally and ranks 11th in terms of the oldest stock exchanges in existence, with 224 years of operation as of 2025. Performance after Covid The COVID-19 pandemic had a profound effect on the global economy, causing considerable volatility on the stock market. The London Stock Exchange (LSE) saw a notable decline in the market capitalization value of its listed companies, reaching its lowest value in March 2020 at approximately three trillion British pounds in correlation with a surge in the average daily number of trades, which peaked at over two billion. Following this initial reaction, the LSE observed a decrease in the average daily active traders, alongside a gradual recovery in the market capitalization of the listed companies.

The market capitalization of companies in the United States was almost six times than that of China as of June 2025, making up a large share of the world's total market capitalization. Listed companies in the U.S. had a total market capitalization of nearly ** trillion U.S. dollars - against ** trillion U.S. dollars recorded by China. Japan followed as the next country in the ranking of nearly ***** trillion U.S. dollars.