There are many ways to rank the word's most powerful companies. Looking at market value, brand value or sales revenue are all methods used to rank the biggest companies in the world.
From the data, it is apparent that the most powerful companies are mostly based in the U.S., followed by China and then Europe. Companies in the oil & gas sector are the most valuable in aggregate, followed by technology and financial services & banking.
Largest Companies on U.S. Exchanges by Market Capitalization
The market capitalization of a company is a measure of its value, and therefore its size and influence. Market capitalization is measured by multiplying the share price of a company's stock by the number of shares outstanding.
The largest 20 companies traded on American stock exchanges are:
Rank | Company Name | Ticker | Industry | Market Cap ($USD billions) |
1 | Apple Inc. | AAPL | Computers, hardware | 674.46 |
2 | Microsoft Corp.* | MSFT | Computers, software | 399.12 |
3 | Exxon Mobil* | XOM | Oil and gas | 397.28 |
4 | Berkshire Hathaway | BKR.B | Diversified | 371.01 |
5 | Google Inc. | GOOGL | Software, internet | 357.27 |
6 | Johnson & Johnson | JNJ | Pharmaceuticals, Consumer Products | 303.73 |
7 | PetroChina (ADR) | PTR | Oil and gas | 289.79 |
8 | Wells Fargo & Co. | WFC | Finance, banks | 285.48 |
9 | Walmart Stores* | WMT | Retail | 271.13 |
10 | Alibaba Group (ADR) | BABA | Internet | 268.21 |
11 | Novartis AG (ADR) | NVS | Pharmaceuticals | 261.37 |
12 | General Electric* | GE | Diversified manufacturing | 261.21 |
13 | Roche Holdings (ADR) | RHHBY:OTC | Pharmaceuticals | 261.37 |
14 | China Mobile (ADR) | CHL | Telecommunications | 250.12 |
15 | Proctor & Gamble Co.* | PG | Consumer products | 244.22 |
16 | Nestle SA (ADR) | NSRGF:OTC | Food and beverage | 240.87 |
17 | JPMorgan Chase & Co. | JPM | Finance, banking | 234.38 |
18 | Toyota Motors (ADR) | TM | Automobiles | 217.11 |
19 | Royal Dutch Shell (ADR) | RDS.A | Oil and gas | 217.11 |
20 | Facebook Inc. | FB | Internet, social media | 212.88 |
Source: Google Finance, data as of 12/5/2014
* indicates a member of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA)
'ADR' indicates an American Depository Receipt, or foreign company traded on American stock exchanges.
The Forbes Index of Most Powerful Brands
A strong brand name is a very valuable asset. Forbes sets out to rank companies by their brand awareness and the power that those brands carry. While there is some overlap with the most valuable companies by market capitalization, there are also many differences.
Rank | Company Name | Ticker | Industry | Brand Value ($USD billions) |
1 | Apple Inc. | AAPL | Computers, hardware | 124.2 |
2 | Microsoft Corp.* | MSFT | Computers, software | 63 |
3 | Google Inc. | GOOGL | Software, internet | 56.6 |
4 | Coca Cola* | KO | Food and beverage | 56.1 |
5 | IBM* | IBM | Technology | 47.9 |
6 | MacDonald's* | MCD | Restaurants | 39.9 |
7 | General Electric | GE | Diversified manufacturing | 37.1 |
8 | Samsung Electronics | N/A | Consumer goods, electronics | 35 |
9 | Toyota Motors (ADR) | TM | Automobiles | 31.3 |
10 | Louis Vuitton (ADR) | LVMUY:OTC | Luxury goods, fashion | 29.9 |
11 | BMW | N/A | Automobiles | 28.8 |
12 | Cisco Systems* | CSCO | Computer hardware, Networking | 28 |
13 | Intel* | INTC | Semiconductors | 28 |
14 | Disney* | DIS | Entertainment | 27.4 |
15 | Oracle | ORCL | Software | 25.8 |
16 | AT&T | T | Telecommunications | 24.9 |
17 | Mercedes Benz | N/A | Automobiles | 23.8 |
18 | Facebook Inc. | FB | Internet, social media | 23.7 |
19 | Walmart Stores* | WMT | Retail | 23.3 |
20 | Honda Motors (ADR) | HMC | Automobiles |
23.2 |
Source: FactSet, Forbes.com
* indicates a member of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA)
'ADR' indicates an American Depository Receipt, or foreign company traded on American stock exchanges.
For methodology, see: "World's Most Valuable Brands: Behind The Numbers."
World's Largest Companies by Sales Revenue
A third way to rank the largest and most powerful companies is by using sales revenue as a measure of size:
Rank | Company Name | Ticker | Industry | Revenue ($USD billions) |
1 | Walmart Stores* | WMT | Retail | 476 |
2 | Sinopec Group (ADR) | SHI | Oil and gas | 475 |
3 | China National Petroleum | N/A | Oil and gas | 455 |
4 | Royal Dutch Shell (ADR) | RDS.A | Oil and gas | 451 |
5 | Exxon Mobile* | XOM | Oil and gas | 420 |
6 | British Petroleum (ADR) | BP | Oil and gas | 379 |
7 | Saudi Aramco | N/A | Oil and gas | 365 |
8 | State Grid Corp. of China | N/A | Utilities, electricity | 338 |
9 | Vitol | N/A | Minerals and mining | 307 |
10 | Volkswagen Group (ADR) | VLKAY:OTC | Automobiles | 263 |
11 | Total SA (ADR) | TOT | Oil and gas | 253 |
12 | Toyota Motors (ADR) | TM | Automobiles | 249 |
13 | Glencore Xstrata | N/A | Minerals and mining | 239 |
14 | Chevron Corp* | CVX | Oil and gas | 220 |
15 | Samsung Electronics | N/A | Consumer goods, electronics | 216 |
16 | Apple Inc. | AAPL | Computers, hardware | 182 |
17 | Berkshire Hathaway | BKR.B | Diversified | 182 |
18 | China Railway Corp. | N/A | Transportation | 172 |
19 | Philips 66 | PSX | Oil and gas | 171 |
20 | E.ON (ADR) | EONGY:OTC | Utilities, electricity | 163 |
Source: Wikipedia.com. Data as of 12/31/2013.
* indicates a member of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA)
'ADR' indicates an American Depository Receipt, or foreign company traded on American stock exchanges.
The Bottom Line
Depending on which methodology you use to rank the world's biggest and most powerful companies, the list will be different. There is a bit of overlap however, and some trends can be identified.
Chinese companies are rapidly gaining value and influence. The oil and gas industry remains a dominant force in the world economy, even though the brand values of oil and gas companies don't rank very highly. Consumer-facing companies such as Coca Cola and Disney that do not make the top 20 in market capitalization or revenues do rank highly in brand value.