Between 2019 and 2023, oil and gas explorers and producers logged the highest total revenue worldwide, reaching *** trillion U.S. dollars. Life and health insurance carriers followed behind.
As of January 2024, the most profitable industry in the United States was money center banking, with a profit margin of 30.89 percent. The profit margin of the regional banking was not too far off, with a net profit margin of 29.67.
In 2024, the**************************************o posted the highest revenue of any company in the world before taxes, with an income of over *** billion U.S. dollars. ************************************************** rounded out the top five spots in the ranking of most profitable companies. What is net income? Net income, or net profit, which differs slightly from pre-tax income, is the figure that gives the most complete overview of a company’s profitability: It is calculated as the revenue of a company less all operating expenses, debt payments, interest paid, income from subsidiary holdings, taxes, etc. Different industries have different net profit margins. The Apple doesn’t fall far In terms of market value, Microsoft was the largest company in the world in 2024, with Apple following in second. Since the beginning of the new millennium, Apple has reported ever rising amounts of worldwide revenue, with iPhone sales leading the charge.
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.
This statistic shows the 2025 ranking of the top 10 biotech and pharmaceutical companies worldwide, based on net income. U.S.-based company Johnson & Johnson was ranked first with a net income of **** billion U.S. dollars. Biotech and pharmaceutical companiesJohnson & Johnson and Merck & Co., both based in the United States, are among the world’s largest biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies based on their net incomes of approximately **** billion U.S. dollars and **** billion U.S. dollars, respectively, as of 2025. Johnson & Johnson generated some **** billion U.S. dollars of revenue in 2024. Pfizer had record-high annual revenues during the COVID-19 vaccination campaign, exceeding 100 billion U.S. dollars in 2022.
Story of a former blockbuster Lyrica was once one of Pfizer’s most successful products. It is an anticonvulsant for neuropathic pain and is also used as therapy for partial seizures. In the EU and in Russia, Lyrica has also been approved to treat general anxiety disorder. In 2017, this prescription medication generated some **** billion U.S. dollars in revenue.
Exxon Mobil was the leading oil and gas producing company worldwide by net income as of 12-month rolling data from June 2024. Many oil supermajors are among the most profitable oil and gas companies after rebounding from losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Big Oil companies like ExxonMobil, BP, and Shell recorded historic net losses in 2020, some for the first time ever, as the coronavirus pandemic and its effect on fuel demand made it difficult for many within the industry to turn a profit - particularly companies not majority-owned by the state. Oil and gas industry The oil and gas industry is one of the largest industries worldwide. This sector is involved in exploration, extraction, refining, transport, and marketing of petroleum commodities. Many industries rely heavily on oil and gas products as fuels and feedstocks. It is no wonder then that oil and gas companies are regularly among the most profitable companies worldwide.
State-owned enterprises are largest producers State-owned businesses are among the largest within the oil and gas industry. Saudi Arabia's Saudi Aramco is by far the leading oil company worldwide based on daily oil production, at over ************ barrels per day. ExxonMobil was the largest non-state-owned oil producer, at *********** barrels per day in 2023.
Mining company Glencore was ranked as the number one mining company in the world as of 2025, with an annual revenue of approximately ****** billion U.S. dollars. Jianqxi Copper was in the second place at about ** billion U.S.dollars. Top mining companies worldwide based on revenue The mining industry operates on a global scale. London is headquarters to some of the world's most prominent mining companies, including Glencore, BHP, and Rio Tinto. Coal and nonmetallic minerals dominate the U.S. mining industry, while China controls most of the world’s rare earth minerals. Oil and gas extraction remains one of the most economically important sectors within mining operations, although oil and gas is often viewed as a separate industry. As of March 2025, BHP, Rio Tinto, and China Shenhua Energy were the world's three leading mining companies based on market capitalization. Rio Tinto deals primarily with aluminum, iron ore, copper, uranium, coal, and diamonds. What makes the mining industry tick? Volatile prices of commodity minerals impact the profitability and propensity of the mining industry. Smaller companies and individuals are typically involved in the exploration aspects of the industry, while large companies, such as the top mining companies in the world, tend to focus on mining production and operations to generate profit.
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 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 shows the profit margin of the top 10 global pharmaceutical companies in 2013. In that year, Pfizer reported the highest profit margin within the pharma industry. At Pfizer, profit made up ** percent of generated revenues.
Berkshire Hathaway was the most profitable property and casualty (stock) insurance company in the world in 2020, with revenues amounting to 245.5 billion U.S. dollars. People’s Insurance Company of China and Munich Re followed behind with 84.3 billion U.S. dollars and 74.1 billion U.S. dollars, respectively.
The history of Berkshire Hathaway Berkshire Hathaway is a multinational conglomerate holding company, which is headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. Berkshire Hathaway began as a textile manufacturing company in the mid-19th century, but expanded into other industries - such as insurance, investment and media – from the mid-20th century onwards. It is perhaps most well-known for its CEO, billionaire Warren Buffett, but also for being among the most valuable companies in the world.
Comparison with other top companies Berkshire Hathaway is also one of the most profitable companies globally. The rest of the top ten is dominated by fossil fuel and automobile companies, so Berkshire alone represents the financial services sector. Berkshire is one of the largest wind energy producers in the U.S., but is also still active in the coal industry. The company's revenue steadily increased over the past decade, before dropping in 2020.
Shell had the highest annual revenue of all companies based in the United Kingdom in 2025, at approximately 284 billion U.S. dollars. BP had the second-highest annual revenue at over 189 billion dollars, followed by HSBC Holdings, which had a revenue of around 142 billion U.S. dollars. In terms of global employee numbers, however, Compass Group had the highest number among UK-based businesses, at approximately half a million in 2024, followed by Tesco at 336,400 and HSBC at almost 211,000. Big Oil, a banking giant, and Britain's top supermarket chain The two companies listed as having the most revenue in the UK this year are also two of the biggest oil and gas companies in the world, alongside Chevron, Eni, ExxonMobil, and TotalEnergies. After a huge surge in energy prices in 2022, these companies saw their profits recede slightly in 2023, but clearly remain in strong financial positions as of 2024. HSBC Holdings, meanwhile, was the largest bank in Europe in terms of market capitalization, and was estimated to have the second-highest number of UK-based customers in 2024. The company with the fourth-highest revenue in this year, Tesco has by some distance the largest grocery-market share in Great Britain, a position it has maintained despite growing competition from discounters like Lidl and Aldi. UK economy health check In the first quarter of 2025, the UK economy grew by 0.7 percent, emerging from a brief slowdown in growth towards the end of 2024. Consumer Price inflation, has, however, started to increase, with the inflation rate reaching 3.5 percent in April, the highest rate since January 2024. Furthermore, the UK labor market is showing signs of weakness, with quite a high number of job losses since the start of the year. Alongside these generally negative signs, business confidence in the UK has been falling, with the main concern of UK firms being that of taxation, as of early 2025.
In 2020, American Airlines was the second most profitable airline group, generating revenue of only ***** billion U.S. dollars. American Airlines is an American airline with headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas. The most difficult year for the airline industry As one of the largest airline group in the world, American Airlines reported only **** billion U.S. dollars from its passenger travel segment and * billion U.S. dollars from its loyalty travel segment in 2020. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. airline saw only **** million passengers boarding their aircraft, marking one of the worst years in the airline's history. Broken down regionally, the domestic market brought in the most passenger revenue since international travel was restricted. The U.S. aviation industry was also affected Due to its geographic size, the United States has a massive air transportation network. With at least one airport in every major city, air transportation occurs continuously. As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. airline industry generated only ****** billion U.S. dollars in revenue 2020. Because of travel restrictions, the major air carriers in the country boarded only ***** million passengers in that year.
The chemical company Linde was the number one leading global chemical company in a 2024 global ranking based on net income, with a net income of approximately **** billion U.S. dollars. Air Products and Chemicals, headquartered in the United States, was ranked second, with a net income of **** billion U.S. dollars. The significance of the global chemical industry The chemical industry is one of the most important foundations for the world’s economy as we know it. One of the primary undertakings of this industry is the transformation of raw materials into industrial chemical products, which are fundamental for other industrial sectors. The principle chemical products are polymers and plastics, which are responsible for nearly ** percent of the industry’s production volume. Excluding the pharmaceutical sector, the global chemical industry's revenue amounts to nearly ***** trillion U.S. dollars in 2022. Prominent national chemical industries: Germany and the United States Germany has an old and well-established chemical industry. Two of the largest chemical companies worldwide, BASF and Bayer, originated there. Although BASF's revenue generated in 2023 amounted to ** billion euros, BASF had a net income of *** million euros that year. Like Germany, the United States is home to many of the world's leading chemical producers. The ubiquitous U.S.-based chemical companies Dow and DuPont, which were joined in September 2017 in the formation of the chemical conglomerate DowDuPont, have since been spun-off again into individual companies with discreet focus areas.
This statistic shows ten largest Chinese public companies listed in Forbes Global 2000 annual ranking of 2024, broken down by profit. That year, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) ranked first among Chinese public companies with a profit of approximately ***** billion U.S. dollars.
Sinopec (China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation) is the leading global oil and gas company by revenues generated. In the 12-month period leading up to July 2024, the Chinese state-owned enterprise generated ************** U.S. dollars in revenues. State-owned enterprises are largest producers State-owned businesses are among the largest within the oil and gas industry. Saudi Arabia's Saudi Aramco is the leading oil company worldwide based on daily oil production, at over ********** barrels per day. This is significantly more than the daily output of ExxonMobil. At *********** barrels of crude oil per day, it is the largest producer among public companies not majority owned by any state. The United States-based oil and gas giant ExxonMobil generated ************** U.S. dollars in revenues in the 12 months leading up to July 2024, coming in third in this list. Diversification of oil & gas portfolios Due to growing investor pressure and judicial court rulings, some oil and gas companies have been incentivized to increase the share of non-fossil fuel assets in their portfolio. Their efforts have been supported by an increasing number of investment funds and asset managers, with more diverse companies also often ranking higher in terms of brand value. Many European oil majors have already begun looking for clean energy ventures where their expertise may help them gain footing fast, such as offshore wind and blue hydrogen. This is also reflected in a growing share of low-carbon investments in overall capex.
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.
In 2024, the leading media company worldwide based on revenue was Alphabet Inc., with revenue of *** billion euros. In second place was Meta Platforms Inc, followed by Bytedance, Comcast Corporation, and Amazon. Media market - additional information The global entertainment and media market has a high value, considering it is made up of television, radio, internet, newspaper and in general technology-based companies. In 2024, this industry had an accumulated value of approximately *** trillion U.S. dollars. Projections for this market are optimistic as this industry is expected to increase its value over the next years, potentially reaching a revenue of *** trillion U.S. dollars by 2027. The first-ranking Alphabet had a revenue of over *** billion euros in 2024. The U.S. is the most important regional market for Alphabet, generating over ** percent of its revenue. Alphabet was followed by a fellow tech company, Meta, and by ByteDance, who owns TikTok. The majority of the leading media companies in the world are U.S.-based companies. Indeed, media has a major role in the daily life of Americans. On average, a consumer in the U.S. spent more than ** hours per day consuming major media.
In 2011, the net profit margin of the mining industry's 40 leading companies was approximately 24 percent. Twelve years later, in 2023, the net profit margin stood at 11 percent. Profits of the top mining companies The net profit margin (also known as profit margin, net margin, net profit ratio) is a measurement to describe the profitability of a company. It is calculated by dividing the net income by the total revenue (or net profit by sales). For 2023, it means that the top 40 mining companies kept 11 cents of profit out of every U.S. dollar they earned. The average net profit margin of the world’s top 40 mining companies stood at some seven percent in 2014, but decreased to negative seven percent in 2015, and then rebounded to 11 percent in 2023. These figures are a distinct decrease when compared to the years before. In 2023, the top 40 mining companies in the world generated a net profit of approximately 90 billion U.S. dollars.The global top 40 mining companies, which represent the vast majority of the industry, generated more than 840 billion U.S. dollars of revenue in 2023. In terms of quantity, these companies produce most of all coal (including thermal and metallurgical coal), iron ore, and bauxite.
In the fourth quarter of 2024, ******* was was the highest-grossing gaming company worldwide. The Shenzhen-headquartered online company generated approximately ** billion U.S. dollars in gaming revenues during the measured period. Japanese competitor ********* was ranked second with ***** billion U.S. dollars in quarterly gaming revenues.
Between 2019 and 2023, oil and gas explorers and producers logged the highest total revenue worldwide, reaching *** trillion U.S. dollars. Life and health insurance carriers followed behind.