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.

As of July 16, 2025, Nvidia was the leading tech company by market capitalization globally at 4.16 trillion U.S. dollars. Nvidia became the first company to ever achieve the four trillion milestone, hitting this figure for the first time in July 2025. Microsoft ranked second at 3.76 trillion U.S. dollars. 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. Apple is also 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.

In 2023, Amazon.com was the top-ranked internet company based on number of employees. The e-commerce giant reported a workforce of more than **** million employees. Amazon has consistently topped the ranking as the online company with the biggest workforce, but the global COVID-19 pandemic has widened the gap as e-commerce has boomed since. During the same period, Meta (formerly Facebook Inc.) had a total of ****** full-time employees. Additionally, Google's parent company Alphabet had ******* full-time workers in 2024.

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.

Headquartered in Australia, Sims Limited leads the ranking of the most sustainable corporations as of 2024, having earned an overall ** score. The company operates in the metal and electronics recycling, municipal recycling, and renewable energy sectors. Also based in Australia, the second-leading company in terms of sustainability that year was ****************.

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.

There were estimated to be approximately *** million companies worldwide in 2023, a significant increase from 2020, when there were around *** million companies.The most recent figure is also an estimated peak for global company numbers in the provided time period.

This statistic shows the leading health care equipment and services companies worldwide based on market capitalization, as of 2024. The values were taken from the Financial Times equity screener database. Health care equipment and services company Thermo Fisher Scientific reached a market cap of over *** billion U.S. dollars as of July 2024.

As of March 2025, Google represented 79.1 percent of the global online search engine market on desktop devices. Despite being much ahead of its competitors, this represents the lowest share ever recorded by the search engine in these devices for over two decades. Meanwhile, its long-time competitor Bing accounted for 12.21 percent, as tools like Yahoo and Yandex held shares of over 2.9 percent each. Google and the global search market Ever since the introduction of Google Search in 1997, the company has dominated the search engine market, while the shares of all other tools has been rather lopsided. The majority of Google revenues are generated through advertising. Its parent corporation, Alphabet, was one of the biggest internet companies worldwide as of 2024, with a market capitalization of 2.02 trillion U.S. dollars. The company has also expanded its services to mail, productivity tools, enterprise products, mobile devices, and other ventures. As a result, Google earned one of the highest tech company revenues in 2024 with roughly 348.16 billion U.S. dollars. Search engine usage in different countries Google is the most frequently used search engine worldwide. But in some countries, its alternatives are leading or competing with it to some extent. As of the last quarter of 2023, more than 63 percent of internet users in Russia used Yandex, whereas Google users represented little over 33 percent. Meanwhile, Baidu was the most used search engine in China, despite a strong decrease in the percentage of internet users in the country accessing it. In other countries, like Japan and Mexico, people tend to use Yahoo along with Google. By the end of 2024, nearly half of the respondents in Japan said that they had used Yahoo in the past four weeks. In the same year, over 21 percent of users in Mexico said they used Yahoo.

This statistic shows the market capitalization of the leading chemical companies in the United States as of September 2024. At that time, Ecolabs had a market capitalization of ** billion U.S. dollars, the largest market capitalization of any U.S.-based chemicals company.

In 2024, Google's parent company reported an annual revenue increase of ** percent. In 2024, video content and streaming platform Netflix increased its annual revenue by ** percent. Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook Inc.) generated a ** percent year-on-year revenue increase during the same period. Additionally, Amazon had a year-over-year revenue increase of ** percent for its fiscal year of 2024.

The top medical technology companies globally include big name companies such as General Electric, Philips, and Medtronic. As of 2021, the leading medical technology company based on market share was Medtronic (U.S.). At that time, Medtronic held *** percent of the overall medical technology market. The company’s hold on medical technology is projected to increase slightly to *** percent by 2024. Medical technology industry The global medical technology industry includes different types of technology that are broadly categorized as medical devices, in vitro diagnostics and digital health solutions. The total medical technology revenue has been increasing in recent years and is expected to increase dramatically by the year 2024. Research and development in the industry is also gaining ground and has experienced some of the largest growth in spending from 2015 to 2016, with significant growth expected in the future. Company spotlight: Medtronic Among the various medical technology companies, Medtronic is among the top in many measures. Medtronic produces medical products and devices for cardiac and vascular disease, minimally invasive therapies, restorative therapies and diabetes. In 2017, Medtronic was the top medical technology company among those that produce cardiac devices. The company beat out other competitors such as Abbott and Boston Scientific by a significant percentage of the market share. Medtronic’s total revenue worldwide has been increasing significantly in recent years and in the company’s fiscal year 2022 had reached an all time high.

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 2023, Meta Platforms had a total annual revenue of over 134 billion U.S. dollars, up from 116 billion in 2022. LinkedIn reported its highest annual revenue to date, generating over 15 billion USD, whilst Snapchat reported an annual revenue of 4.6 billion USD.

By 2026, the United States is projected to have ******* companies employing between 100 and 499 people. This is a slight decrease from 2020 when there were ******* firms of this size in the United States.

In 2020, the average lifespan of a company on Standard and Poor's 500 Index was just over ** years, compared with ** years in 1965. There is a clear long-term trend of declining corporate longevity with regards to companies on the S&P 500 Index, with this expected to fall even further throughout the 2020s.

The number of domestic companies listed on the Nasdaq and on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) has seen some fluctuations since 2018. As of the end of 2023, the NYSE had a total of ***** listed domestic and international companies, while the figure for the Nasdaq was much higher, standing at *****. Despite this, the NYSE has a higher market capitalization than the Nasdaq. What are the top listed companies? The NYSE has been a home for stable and long-lasting firms, also known as “blue-chip” companies. For example, Berkshire Hathaway, established in 1839, is the largest company traded on the NYSE. On the other hand, the Nasdaq has been known for listing major tech companies. For instance, Apple is the largest company listed on the Nasdaq. As of 2024, both companies were among the biggest companies in the world in terms of market capitalization. Which stock exchange has the most companies worldwide? Although the NYSE and the Nasdaq are the world’s largest two stock market operators by market capitalization, the Japan Exchange Group (JPX) is the biggest stock exchange in the world based on the number of companies. The JPX was created in 2013 through the merger of the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the Osaka Securities Exchange and is also one of the largest stock exchanges in the world based on total market capitalization.

In 2024, midsize companies spent the largest amount of time on training per employee, totaling roughly ** hours. Larger companies in the United States ********* their investment in staff training between 2017 and 2020, however these investments in training time have been ********** since then. The training industry in the United States Workplace training is the process of educating staff in the specific skills they need to perform the tasks required for their role. This can be developed and provided by in-house staff or by third-party training providers. Companies generally prefer to retain a high level of in-house control though, with fully outsourced solutions for most training services being rare and unlikely to increase in the future. This means the majority of expenditure within the industry is directed to the payment of wages for in-house staff. Training methods and expenditure The recent decrease in training hours provided by smaller companies still allowed for increased expenditure per employee. Moreover, spending per employee decreases in line with company size. This trend likely reflects the greater capacity that larger companies have to invest in large scale and/or technological training solutions able to serve a large number of employees simultaneously. For example, technological solutions such as online learning tools, once implemented, can provide training for a small or large number of employees at a similar overall cost. This hypothesis seems to be reflected in how large organizations make more use of virtual classrooms and less use of instructor-led classrooms as the sole method of training than small and midsize organizations.

China’s internet economy has evolved rapidly over time, enough to even rival its Silicon Valley counterpart. In 2024, Tencent Holdings retained its title of the most valuable internet company in China, with a market value of around **** trillion yuan. ByteDance surpassed Alibaba Group to claim the second place with **** 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 ** 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 ** 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 *** 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.

As of June 2025, Nintendo held the top spot among the largest gaming companies by market cap. The multinational gaming company is headquartered in Kyoto, Japan, and develops as well as publishes both video games and gaming consoles. Nintendo’s market cap was nearly 107 billion U.S. dollars, ahead of second-ranked Roblox with 69.76 billion U.S. dollars. Roblox – a newcomer briefly shakes up the market (Formerly) indie gaming company Roblox Corporation started trading publicly on March 10, 2021, and closed its first day of trading activity with a market cap of over 37 billion U.S. dollars, ahead of several well-established industry heavyweights. After a significant decline throughout 2022 and 2023, Roblox Corporation was still ranked among the biggest gaming companies worldwide, with a market cap of 23.89 billion U.S. dollars in April 2024. Activision Blizzard – a giant exits the stage A summer of litigation caused Activision Blizzard's value to drop and the company to be relegated to second place with a market cap of nearly 46.98 billion U.S. dollars in October 2021 before bouncing back to 67.06 billion U.S. dollars in early 2023. Microsoft purchased the company in January 2022 in one of the biggest video game acquisitions of all time. After months of negotiations with regulatory bodies around the world, the deal was finalized in October 2023, and the company was taken off the market.