Top 10 companies with the highest capitalization in the world

The ranking of the 10 companies with the highest capitalization in the world, updated in April 2024, is dominated by US technology companies thanks to their constant innovation in the field of AI. This dominance highlights the challenge that Asian giants, especially Chinese ones, face in competing on a global scale in an era characterized by the accelerated digitalization of the economy.

However, among the top positions in the ranking stands out a notable exception: Saudi Aramco, the titanic Saudi oil company, ranks fifth, demonstrating the continuing influence of traditional sectors in the global economic arena.

Market capitalization is one of the key factors used by investors to evaluate the overall value of a company. Companies with the highest capitalization often represent the most stable and influential companies on the global market, and their position in the ranking reflects their strength and importance.

If you want to know more about who leads the global market, read on to discover the companies that occupy the top of the ranking in 2024.

Ranking of the 10 companies with the highest capitalization in the world

Leading the way in the ranking of the 10 companies with the highest capitalization in the world is Microsoft, with almost 3,000 billion dollars, followed by Apple and Nvidia, which has climbed the rankings from a market cap of 684 billion dollars to the current 2,065 billion. From the fourth to the week position, the companies are worth between one thousand and two thousand billion and the companies below the eighth place are worth between 600 and 900 billion. Tesla exits the ranking, with a capitalization of $542.73 billion.

Ranking	Company	Market Capitalization	Market Price	Country
1	Microsoft	$2.965 billion	$399.04	USA
2	Apple	$2.623 billion	$169.89	USA
3	NVIDIA	$2.065 billion	$826.32	USA
4	Alphabet (Google)	$1.95 trillion	$157.95	USA
5	Saudi Aramco	$1.942 billion	$8.03	Saudi Arabia
6	Amazon	$1.806 billion	$173.67	US
7	Meta (Facebook)	$1.119 billion	$441.38	USA
8	Berkshire Hathaway	$875.55 billion	$404.91	USA
9	TSMC	$708.44 billion	$136.58	Taiwan
10	Eli Lilly	$689.18 billion	$724.87	USA

Table updated as of April 26, 2024

1. Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation ($2.965 billion) is an American technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded on April 4, 1975, by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, it was initially known as “Micro-Soft,” a name derived from the words “microcomputer” and “software.” Microsoft’s success began in 1981 with the release of its first operating system for personal computers, called MS-DOS. This operating system revolutionized the PC market, quickly becoming the standard for IBM-compatible computers. In 1985, Microsoft launched Windows, a windowing operating system that has become the most popular operating system for PCs worldwide.

Over the years, Microsoft has evolved into one of the world’s leading technology companies. Its broad range of products includes operating systems for PCs, servers, mobile devices, productivity software for work and play, and many other technology solutions. The company has always focused on innovation research and development and has been able to maintain its leadership position thanks to high-quality products and a strong presence in the cloud services market. Today, Microsoft continues to be a driving force in the global technology industry and is the first most capitalized company in the world, with $2.965 billion.

2. Apple

Apple was founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne and is headquartered in Cupertino, California. The company debuted in the world of personal computers with the Apple I, launched in the same year as its foundation, followed by the Apple II in 1977 and the Macintosh in 1984. After a period of difficulty in the 1990s, Apple managed to recover thanks to the introduction of new products such as the iPod in 2001 and the iPhone in 2007. In recent years, the company has also expanded into the service sector, offering a wide range of products and services that include music streaming, cloud storage, and online assistance. Thanks to the leadership of Tim Cook, who inherited a difficult situation after the death of Steve Jobs, today Apple is one of the largest and most successful technology companies in the world, with a market capitalization of over 2,620 billion of dollars.

3. NVIDIA

NVIDIA is the great protagonist of the new trend of artificial intelligence, a leader in the production of graphics processing and computing technologies. Founded in 1993, NVIDIA has developed some of the world’s most advanced technologies to improve user experiences in video games, professional graphics processing, data processing, and machine learning. The company is renowned for producing high-quality graphics cards and graphics processors that have revolutionized the gaming industry and high-performance data processing. Additionally, NVIDIA was one of the first companies to significantly invest in AI and today is a major supplier of AI technologies to many companies around the world. NVIDIA rose to third place in the ranking of the 10 companies with the highest capitalization in the world, with 2,065 billion dollars.

4. Alphabet (Google)

Alphabet Inc. is an American holding company that controls several companies in the technology, biotechnology, financial investment, and research sectors. Among these, we find Google, YouTube, Waymo, Verily Life Sciences, and many others. Founded in 2015 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the same founders of Google, Alphabet was created with the aim of separating Google’s core activities from other experimental activities, in order to provide greater transparency and more efficient project management. Its headquarters are located in Mountain View, California, on the same campus as Google. At the time of its founding, Alphabet became one of the largest and most powerful companies in the world, with billions of dollars in revenue, a capitalization of $1,950 billion, and thousands of employees worldwide.

5. Saudi Aramco

Saudi Aramco, one of the world’s largest oil companies, is active in all phases of oil and gas production and marketing, from extraction to refining and distribution. The Saudi Arabian Oil Company, or Saudi Aramco, was founded in 1933 as a joint venture between the Arabian American Oil Company (Aramco) and the Standard Oil Company of California (Chevron). Over the years, the company came under the sole control of the Saudi government, which renamed it the Saudi Arabian Oil Company. Today, Saudi Aramco is one of the world’s largest oil companies, entirely state-owned.

With a daily production of around 10 million barrels of oil, Saudi Aramco is the world’s largest oil producer and also operates one of the largest oil refining facilities. The company is committed to reducing its dependence on oil and expanding into new sectors, such as solar energy and hydrogen production, to diversify its portfolio and contribute to the transition to a low-carbon economy.
As of April 2024, Saudi Aramco has a market capitalization of $1,942 billion, which ranks it fifth among the richest companies in the world by market capitalization.

6. Amazon

Amazon (1,806 billion dollars in capitalization) is the e-commerce founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos, with the initial aim of selling books online. However, within a few years, the company expanded rapidly and began selling CDs, DVDs, toys, electronics, and many other products as well. As the years passed, Amazon became one of the largest e-commerce companies in the world and continued to expand into new industries, such as the manufacturing of electronic hardware and the sale of cloud computing services.

In 2002, Amazon launched the Kindle, an electronic book-reading device that revolutionized the book market and made Amazon a major force in the digital book industry. The success of the Kindle has allowed Amazon to continue expanding into other industries and become one of the largest digital book distributors in the world.

Today, Amazon is much more than just an e-commerce company. In addition to selling products of all kinds, it also offers a wide range of services such as cloud computing, online advertising, and food delivery. The company has become a reference point for many people around the world for its high-quality products and services and its reliability in order processing and product delivery.

7. Meta

Meta is an American technology company, formerly known as Facebook, founded by Mark Zuckerberg and other university students in 2004. Since then, the platform has experienced rapid growth, becoming one of the leading information and sharing channels globally, with users of all age groups. In 2012, Facebook entered Wall Street with one of the largest public offerings (IPOs) in U.S. history. Over the years, it has expanded into many other sectors, transforming into Meta, which contains the two social networks Facebook and Instagram, as well as the instant messaging app WhatsApp and the Oculus augmented reality headset division.

Meta is investing in research projects to develop innovative technologies that improve communication and connectivity between people and improve its users’ privacy and security. Today it represents one of the largest technology companies in the world, offering a wide range of innovative services and products that have changed the way people interact with technology and each other.
Meta currently has a market capitalization of $1.119 billion.

8 Berkshire Hathaway

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is a holding company based in Omaha, Nebraska, founded by Warren Buffett in 1965. Buffett, one of the most famous and successful investors in the world, acquired control of the company in 1965 and transformed it into an equity holding company. The company owns and operates many businesses across multiple industries, including finance, insurance, energy, transportation, media and retail.

Berkshire Hathaway Class A shares are one of the most expensive stocks in the world, with a value approaching $612,000. This value is the result of the company’s high performance under the leadership of Buffett, who has used his long-term and value-investing strategy to generate wealth for shareholders over the years. Class B shares were created in 1996 to make investing in Berkshire Hathaway more accessible to individual investors, as the price of Class A shares is often very high. They are currently worth $404.91.

Berkshire Hathaway has become known for its strong corporate culture and Buffett’s investment philosophy, which is based on finding companies with strong competitive advantages and reasonable valuations. The company is also known for its focus on risk management, which has contributed to its financial stability over the years. Today, Berkshire Hathaway is considered one of the most respected and successful companies in the world, with a capitalization of more than $875.55 billion and a broad range of businesses worldwide.

9. TSMC

TSMC, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, was founded in 1987 in Taiwan and quickly established itself as a leader in contract semiconductor manufacturing, working with companies around the world. As a key chipmaker for giants like Nvidia, TSMC is considered a major beneficiary of the artificial intelligence boom. TSMC’s customers include all the big names in electronics, such as Qualcomm, Apple, MediaTek, and even Intel and Samsung.

TSMC controls 55% of the global chip foundry market, which means that more than half of the semiconductors for high-quality electronic devices come from this company. Furthermore, TSMC invests more than 8% of its annual turnover in advanced research, thus confirming its leadership role in the sector.

As of April 2024, TSMC has a market capitalization of $708.44 billion.

10. Eli Lilly

In tenth place in the ranking with the highest capitalization in the world (689.18 billion dollars) we find Eli Lilly, an American pharmaceutical company founded in 1876 in Indianapolis by Colonel Eli Lilly. The company offers a wide range of medications, including insulin, Prozac, and Cialis. It was one of the first companies to mass produce the polio vaccine developed by Jonas Salk and insulin. In the last year, the title has jumped by 90% thanks to the approval of the anti-obesity drug Tirzepatide.

Original article published on Money.it Italy 2024-05-01 08:21:02. Original title: Le 10 società con la più alta capitalizzazione del mondo