The business landscape is constantly evolving, with the richest companies in the world consistently dominating due to their innovation, market reach, and financial performance.
In the stock exchange markets globally, the shares of these companies are traded. The public often show more interest in some shares over others due to their perceived stability and potential for value growth.
The value of these outstanding or issued shares determines the market capitalization or market cap of the companies which we have used in listing the richest companies in the world.
What is market capitalization?
Market capitalization reflects a company’s worth based on the total market value of all its outstanding shares. To calculate it, you need to multiply the number of outstanding shares by the current market value of one share.
Take, for example, if company XYZee has issued 10 million shares, and each share is selling at $5, then the company’s market capitalization would be $50 million. At any given time, the price of a share is the value investors are willing to pay, based on how they perceive the company’s worth.
Investors, otherwise known as shareholders, hold different stakes in the company. In XYZee’s case, an investor with 1 million shares in the company would be owning 10% of the company, and her stake would be worth $ 5 million.
In mid-2024, these ten companies stand out as the wealthiest in the world based on their market capitalization.
1. Microsoft Corporation – $3.3 Trillion
Microsoft Corporation, headquartered in Redmond, Washington, is a leader in software, hardware, and cloud computing services. Founded in 1975, its flagship products include the Windows operating system, Office suite, Azure cloud services, and Xbox gaming consoles.
Microsoft is the richest company in the world with a valuation of around $3.3 trillion, which is nearly the same as the GDP of India, the fifth wealthiest nation globally.
With an annual revenue exceeding $210 billion in 2023, the company has a workforce of about 221,000 people worldwide. Key shareholders include Bill Gates, Vanguard Group, and BlackRock.
2. Apple Inc – $3.2 Trillion
Apple remains a global titan in the technology industry, renowned for its innovative products like the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and a vast ecosystem of software and services.
Headquartered in Cupertino, California, Apple boasts a market valuation of over $3.2 trillion. In 2023, its annual revenue exceeded $365 billion with 52% being generated from the iPhone division. Apple employs around 164,000 people globally.
About 60% of Apple’s total outstanding stock is held by institutional investors, with the Vanguard Group, Blackrock, and Berkshire Hathaway being the largest shareholders. Insider investors like Arthur Levinson, Tim Cook, and Jeff Williams, who currently hold positions as board chair, CEO, and COO, are the biggest individual shareholders of Apple but with less than 1% shares.
3. NVIDIA Corporation – $3 Trillion
NVIDIA Corporation, a leader in graphics processing units (GPUs) and artificial intelligence technology, is headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The company is at the forefront of making stand-alone GPUs that form the backbone of generative AI platforms like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard.
NVIDIA’s stock price experienced a remarkable surge, increasing by 175% in the first half of 2024, 215% over the past 12 months, and an astounding 3,400% in the last five years. The company’s valuation has seen a meteoric rise, with its market capital surpassing $1 trillion on Jun 13, 2023, $2 trillion on Mar 1, 2024, and $3 trillion on Jun 5, 2024.
NVIDIA employs about 26,000 individuals. Major shareholders include CEO Jensen Huang, Vanguard Group, and BlackRock.
4. Alphabet Inc – $2.2 Trillion
Alphabet Inc., the parent company of Google, is a dominant force in the technology and internet services sector, with about 93% of Internet users worldwide using Google and YouTube as their search engines of choice.
Headquartered in Mountain View, California, Alphabet’s valuation hovers around $2.2 trillion, similar to the GDP of Russia.
Its annual revenue in 2023 was approximately $280 billion, generated from advertising, cloud services, and hardware products. Alphabet employs around 190,000 people.
Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the co-founders of Google, own 3.1% and 2.9% of Alphabet Inc. respectively. The largest institutional investors in Alphabet are Vanguard Group with 7.3% and BlackRock with 6.2% of the total shares.
5. Amazon.com Inc – $2 Trillion
Amazon, based in Seattle, Washington, is a global leader in e-commerce, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence.
The company’s valuation is roughly $2 trillion, with 2023 revenue hitting around $510 billion. Amazon employs over 1.5 million people worldwide.
With a stake of over 9%, Jeff Bezos is the largest individual shareholder of Amazon. Forbes’ data from July 2024 revealed that Bezos was the third-wealthiest person in the world with a net worth of $203.8 billion. Other large shareholders in Amazon are; Vanguard Group and BlackRock.
6. Saudi Aramco – $1.8 Trillion
Saudi Aramco, the state-owned oil giant based in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, is the world’s largest oil producer. Its valuation stands at about $1.8 trillion, driven by its vast oil reserves and production capabilities.
In 2023, Aramco reported an annual revenue of around $350 billion. The company employs over 79,000 people. The Saudi Arabian government remains the largest shareholder, owning the majority of the company.
7. Meta Platforms Inc – $ 1.2 Trillion
Meta Platforms Inc., formerly Facebook Inc., is based in Menlo Park, California. It is a leading social media and technology company, with a valuation of about $1.2 trillion.
Meta Platforms is the parent company of popular social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and Threads, with a combined user base of nearly four billion people every month.
In 2023, Meta’s annual revenue was approximately $117 billion. The company employs over 90,000 people. Major shareholders include CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Vanguard Group, and BlackRock.
8. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) – $900 Billion
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturer, headquartered in Hsinchu, Taiwan.
With a valuation nearing $900 billion, TSMC reported an annual revenue of around $80 billion in 2023. The company employs approximately 65,000 people. Major shareholders include the National Development Fund of Taiwan and institutional investors like Vanguard Group.
9. Berkshire Hathaway Inc – $880 Billion
Led by Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway is a multinational conglomerate holding company based in Omaha, Nebraska. It has a valuation close to $880 billion.
Berkshire Hathaway has investments in more than 40 companies, but 10 of them make up 90% of its portfolio. Some of these top holdings include Apple Inc, Bank of America, Coca-Cola, American Express, Chevron, and Mitsubishi.
In 2023, the company reported an annual revenue of $305 billion. Berkshire Hathaway employs around 372,000 people across its various subsidiaries. Major shareholders include Warren Buffett and institutional investors like Vanguard Group.
10. Eli Lilly Pharmaceuticals – $840 Billion
Eli Lilly & Co. is an American company involved in research and development, manufacturing, and sale of pharmaceutical products. Valued at $840 billion, it is the world’s largest manufacturer and distributor of psychiatric medications.
Founded on May 10, 1876, and headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.A, Eli Lilly is known to have introduced the world’s first commercial insulin in 1923.
In 2023, the company generated over $34 billion in revenue. The largest shareholders of Eli Lilly are; Lilly Endowment Inc, Vanguard Group Inc, and BlackRock Inc.
And there goes our list of the 10 richest companies in the world ranked based on market capitalization. Subscribe to Companies of the World for more videos with interesting facts about global companies.
