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.

In 2025, according to the source's ranking, Apple was the most valuable brand in the world. The technology giant had an estimated brand value of about 574.5 billion U.S. dollars, followed by Microsoft that was worth 461.1 billion dollars. The global dominance of technology companies   A closer look at the 2024 brand ranking reveals that U.S. tech brands once again dominated the top-10 list. As a case in point, the business technology and services platforms industry was the highest-valued sector worldwide among the 100 most valuable brands in 2023. Meanwhile, consumer technology and services platforms ranked second on the list. The importance of brand value Brand value, not to be mistaken with brand equity, is a term used in the marketing industry to describe the value of brands. The term is based on the implication that products with a well-known brand name can generate more money than those with a less well-known name. Strong brands enhance business performance primarily through their influence on three key stakeholder groups: customers, employees, and investors. They influence customer choice and create loyalty; attract, retain, and motivate talent; and lower the cost of financing for the companies.

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.

The acquisition of Whole Foods Market by Amazon in 2017 is the biggest company take-over by Bezos's corporation to date, with a whopping tag price of **** billion U.S. dollars. This acquisition was a move to expand the company's online grocery business. Since 2018, Amazon Prime subscribers can benefit from exclusive deals on their grocery orders from Whole Foods – although free delivery has been restricted since October 2021. From online to brick-and-mortar Amazon did not settle with Whole Foods – a grocery chain focusing on high-price and organic products – and launched its own-brand dollar supermarket Amazon Fresh, posing some risks as the two brands might have competed. Subsequent analyses comparing Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods Market showed that the two stores targeted quite different consumer bases. However, in terms of in-store footfall and dwell time, Amazon Fresh quantitatively outdid Whole Foods. Where is Amazon investing next? Out of the fast-moving consumer goods realm, Amazon’s last operation involved the healthcare company One Medical, acquired for *** billion U.S. dollars in July 2022. Behind the deal with the digital healthcare providermight be/may lie an already well-established subscription model very suitable for the e-commerce business.Lastly, in August 2022, Amazon announced the acquisition of iRobot, the manufacturer of the Roomba robot vacuum cleaners, as well as the undisputed global leader of this home appliances’ market niche. The deal was scrapped in January 2024.

The most expensive internet company operating in Russia as of February 2025 was Yandex, whose value was measured at over ** billion U.S. dollars. Founded in 1997, it provides services such as search, maps, advertising, e-commerce, or taxi. The second-leading business on the list was Ozon, an online marketplace. The third-leading company was Wildberries, founded in 2004, the largest online retailer in Russia.

Apple retained its position as the world’s most valuable brand in 2025, with an estimated brand value of nearly *** trillion U.S. dollars. Google ranked second, having been valued at *** billion dollars. Overall, the brand ranking was dominated by U.S.-based tech companies. Apple’s brand is synonymous with simplicity and innovation Apple is a California-based technology titan specializing in consumer electronics, software, and online services. According to the company’s latest filings, Apple’s global revenue reached *** billion U.S. dollars in 2024, with the iPhone being its most profitable operating segment. In addition to its signature smartphone, Apple’s other breakthrough products include the Mac computer, iPad tablet, and Apple Watch, all of which are continuously updated to match consumer needs and preferences. Nvidia Climbs into the Top 5 as AI Boom Accelerates A leading force in artificial intelligence, Nvidia reached the top five most valuable global brands for the first time in 2025. Behind the chips driving many of today’s generative AI applications, Nvidia is among the leading tech companies in terms of market capitalization, with a valuation of over ***** trillion U.S. dollars.

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.

Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH) was the leading company in France by market capitalization as of October 2024, with a valuation of approximately ***** billion U.S. dollars. Hermès and L'Oréal followed, with market capitalizations of ****** billion and ****** billion U.S. dollars, respectively. Luxury goods market in France France is globally renowned for its rich history and numerous high-end fashion brands in the luxury goods market. For example, Chanel was among the world’s most recognized luxury brands in 2022, among other French brands such as Louis Vuitton, Dior, and Hermes. Moreover, France ranks among the biggest five markets for luxury goods in the world, and the sector’s revenue in the country is expected to exceed ** billion U.S. dollars by 2025. LVMH: the world’s leading luxury company LVMH is a French luxury goods conglomerate operating across various sectors, including fashion and leather goods, perfumes and cosmetics, jewelry and watches, and wines and spirits. As the largest French company in the world, LVMH group's total revenue was over ** billion euros in 2023. Almost half of the revenue came from their business in the fashion and leather segment, which amounted to 42.16 billion euros in 2023.

In 2019, China’s Alibaba Group was the most valuable Asia Pacific corporate brand, with an amassed worth of approximately 53.7 billion euros. With its headquarters based in Hong Kong, China Mobile proved the second most valuable Asia Pacific corporate brand displaying a total value of almost 50 billion euros.
China’s corporate presence
Of the brands which made the global ranking for the most valuable corporate brand, almost one fifth were located in the Asia Pacific region. Interestingly, over half were Chinese companies. Teamed with a developed economy, China has forged a reputation for having a powerful business culture. This was heavily conveyed in the global rankings. Alibaba Group was the tenth most valuable corporate brand throughout the entire world. The e-commerce giant proceeded to live up to its position in the global rankings and has displayed increasing annual revenues throughout recent years.

Successful Asian brands Despite China’s domination of the most valuable corporate brand ranking, other infamous Asia Pacific brands also made the global top one hundred. Samsung, Toyota, and Tata were all recognized as Asia Pacific brands which have experienced huge success. South Korea’s Samsung has displayed impressive global revenues over the past fifteen years. Japanese automotive manufacturer Toyota has also asserted its global dominance, having recorded astronomical revenues across different regions. Tata Consultancy Services, which was founded in India, also demonstrated rising global revenues further highlighting Asia Pacific’s success within the corporate world.

As of January 2025, Amazon's market capitalization surpassed 2.4 trillion U.S. dollars, making it the most valuable internet company by market capitalization worldwide. Second-ranked Alphabet had a market capitalization of approximately 2.2 trillion U.S. dollars. Social networking company Meta Platforms (née Facebook Inc.) ranked third. Facebook is the leading social network worldwide and has successfully taken advantage of the increasingly mobile online environment. Amazon's position in the market Amazon is one of the biggest internet companies worldwide by revenue. It generates profit from its position as the world's largest online retailer. In 2023, the company's net sales revenue amounted to 574.78 billion U.S. dollars. The e-commerce giant's net revenue, generated through online stores, was 231.87 billion U.S. dollars. Google and its most profitable services Google, with the parent company Alphabet inc, generates its revenue mainly from advertising. The company uses its advertisement services, such as Google AdWords – which takes advantage of Google searches and appears as small advertisements next to search results – and Google AdSense, which generates advertisements based on a user's search history and location, among others. Advertisements based on AdSense appear across Google-owned sites, including YouTube and Google Finance. The online company also profits from the development of Android OS, licensing, and mobile apps. In 2024, Google’s total revenue amounted to 348.16 billion U.S. dollars.

Acquired in March 2022, cyber security company Mandiant is ranked as Google's second most expensive acquisition at 5.4 billion U.S. dollars. Motorola Mobility was the most expensive acquisition by Google, with 12.5 billion U.S. dollars. As of November 2022, Google has acquired 257 organizations.

In 2021, Apple was the largest publicly traded company in California based on revenue. That year, they had a revenue of ****** billion U.S. dollars. Alphabet, Chevron, Wells Fargo and Meta rounded out the top five publicly traded companies in California. Apple Apple is a multinational company headquartered in California. It was founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne. Known for their popular iPhones and Mac computers, they have further expanded into other products such as iPods, Apple Watch, Apple TV, Air Pods, and Apple Pay. It is now one of the world’s largest and most valuable companies. Their worldwide revenue has increased dramatically since 2004, with the largest share of their sales since 2012 coming from the Americas. Despite being one of the most successful technology companies, it has faced a lot of criticism from consumers. Some of the criticisms include tax avoidance, sweatshop use, and environmental destruction. Fortune 500 Companies In 2021, New York and California had the highest number of Fortune 500 companies, followed by Texas, Illinois, and Ohio. For New York, this can be attributed to its being the financial and cultural hub of the country. Fortune 500 Companies are ranked by Fortune magazine, which ranks the the top 500 companies in the United States based on revenue. Companies on this list are both publicly and privately held. The companies that get listed have changed over the years, for a variety of reasons such as company acquisitions, bankruptcies, and changes in the economy.

According to Milward Brown's BrandZ China Top 100 ranking in 2020, Alibaba was the most valuable retail brand in China, with an estimated brand value of over 153 billion U.S. dollars. Many Chinese retail companies have launched their e-commerce platforms to maximize their earnings in big shopping festivals. On Singles' Day in 2020, Alibaba earned over 74 billion U.S. dollars in China.

This statistic presents the ten most valuable technology corporations in Taiwan as of December 2017. During the time period in consideration, the most valuable tech company in Taiwan was the Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturer, TSMC, which was worth around six trillion New Taiwan dollars.

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.

In 2024, tech companies ranked as the most valuable brands in the world, covering the five top spots in the source’s ranking. Apple led the list with a brand value of nearly 489 billion U.S. dollars, followed by Microsoft, Amazon, and Google – each with brand values of over 290 billion dollars. Samsung closed the top five, at over 100 billion dollars in brand value. Big techs are also huge in terms of market value The source determined brand value by combining financial information, the role the brand plays in determining consumer choice (independent of other factors such as price and convenience), and a qualitative assessment of the brand’s overall strength. Considering only financial data, Apple, Amazon, Alphabet (Google’s parent company) and Microsoft would be still on the top, as they have some of the highest global market capitalizations. However, when considering only qualitative factors regarding brand strength, the list would look very different, with Chinese app WeChat being the strongest brand worldwide in 2024. Brand value vs. profitability Brand value does not always translate into profitability. While Apple also happens to be the second most profitable company in the world, other companies with strong brands such as Google and Amazon rank lower in terms of net income. This phenomenon does not only apply to tech companies – Coca-Cola did not feature on the list of the most profitable companies worldwide. This is likely due to their franchised distribution structure, whereby manufacturing operations are handled by separate companies, each of which operates independently with an exclusive license to manufacture Coca-Cola beverages in their territory.

This statistic presents the most valuable corporate brands in China in 2023, as ranked by the European Brand Institute. The most valuable corporate Chinese brand of 2023 was Alibaba Group with a brand value of over 112 billion euros. Huawei kept its second spot whereas former third placeholder Tencent slipped to the fifth.

China’s internet economy has evolved rapidly over time, enough to even rival its Silicon Valley counterpart. In 2024, Tencent Holdings remained its title of the most valuable internet company in China, with a market value of around 3.42 trillion yuan. ByteDance surpassed Alibaba Group to claim the second place with 1.63 trillion yuan. Baidu dropped out of the top ten chart. Who are the new BAT trinity? The new BATs – ByteDance, Alibaba, and Tencent — are China's three technology titans. ByteDance, the creator of TikTok and its Chinese sister app Douyin, accounted for 31 percent of China’s mobile app usage time, overtaking the long-time champion Tencent in 2022. Meanwhile, the Alibaba Group offers various e-commerce services with the domestic retail segment being its largest revenue generator. Similarly, Tencent Holdings, of the WeChat and QQ apps fame, earned most of its revenue through its value-added services. China’s budding tech players While being the underdogs of the Chinese IT scene, domestic companies such as Pinduoduo and Meituan have received global recognition. With a brand value of 20 billion yuan, Pinduoduo has climbed to be one of the strongest retail brands in the world, ranking right after IKEA and Aldi. Meituan, which is famous for its food delivery app, alone earned 277 billion yuan worth of revenue in 2023. On the other hand, Baidu, China’s most popular search engine, has lost its former BAT trinity title.

The One World Trade Center in New York was the most expensive building in the world that is actually finished - but by 2022 it may well be overtaken. The majority of buildings in this list are built fairly recently: Nine out of the 15 entries in this ranking were built after 2010. The oldest in this list is Bucharest's Palace of the Parliament from 1988.

When it came to Austrian brands, there was only one clear winner in terms of value in 2024. The Austrian energy drinks brand Red Bull had a brand value over five times higher than the second most valuable brand, Novomatic. Red Bull’s brand value amounted to nearly ** billion euros. The biggest player in the industry: Red Bull Red Bull GmbH was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Fuschl am See in Austria, close to Salzburg. Operating in more than *** countries worldwide, the company saw global revenue reach ***** billion euros. The energy drink manufacturer's most renowned brand, Red Bull, saw over ** billion cans sold worldwide in 2023. One of the major players in the field: Swarovski Wattens-based Swarovski is most well-known for the production of lead glass (crystal) and is one of the most-known jewelry brands in the United States and worldwide. The company currently conducts business in three areas, including crystals, optical instruments (telescopes, binoculars, etc.) and the manufacturing of grinding, sawing, drilling and dressing tools.