The 25 largest publicly listed companies in the world
In line with last year’s trends, Apple is once more the largest listed company in the world. Google’s parent company Alphabet and Microsoft followed closely, topping the list of the 25 largest listed companies in the world, which has a colossal total value of over $8.3 trillion.
The stock market value of the world's largest listed companies has risen sharply in recent years. A PwC survey from 2013 into the stock market value of the world's largest companies in 2013, found that the top twenty companies with the highest stock market value that year were good for a total value of just over $5 trillion. Recent Bloomberg data however reveals that by the end of last year the twenty largest companies in terms of stock market value, were worth $2.1 trillion more than in 2013 ($7.2 trillion), while the top 25 are together worth more than $8.3 billion.
Top 5 companies
Apple remains by far the most valuable company in the world. The technology company, known worldwide for its iPhones, iPods, MacBooks, iPads and associated software, was recently the first business to break through $800 billion in stock market value. Two years ago, it was also the first to cross the $700 billion mark. Runner-up Alphabet, Google's parent company, is yet to pass the $700 billion mark; with the second largest listed company posting a value of $653 billion – $150 billion less than Apple at the end of 2016.
Microsoft was ranked in third place, with a value of $533 billion, while e-commerce player Amazon has picked up fourth place, with a confirmed worth of $455 billion. The differences between the top 4 players are the biggest differences in the top 25 – at about $150 billion, $120 billion and $80 billion respective, the other top 25 companies are significantly closer to each other in terms of market value. For example, there is less than $20 billion difference between fourth-placed Amazon and social media company Facebook, who ranked fifth.
Top 25 listed companies in the world
Following on from the top five are four more US listed companies, Berkshire Hathaway siting in sixth, while Exxon Mobil, Johnson & Johnson and JPMorgan Chase ranked seventh, eighth and ninth. Chinese technology company Tencent, listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, has a value of $305 billion, and are the first company on this year’s list to not be US-based.
Although Alibaba is originally a Chinese company, located in Hangzhou, the e-commerce giant boasts a $299 billion listing on the New York Stock Exchange. The South Korean consumer electronics producer Samsung meanwhile was reported as being worth about $1 billion more than Banco de Venezuela, one of the largest banks in South America. The top 15 was closed by two US companies, with #14 Wells Fargo & Co and #15 General Electric.
Swiss company Nestlé ranked sixth, with a stock exchange value of a quarter of a trillion dollars. The Industrial & Commercial Bank of China followed next, while 19th spot is also held by a bank, as with a value of $239 billion, Bank of America is worth just around $4 billion more than AT&T. Switzerland has one further company among the top 25 largest listed companies, namely the Roche pharmaceutical group on 21st place and worth $233 billion. Venezuela surprisingly featured a second company on the list, Mercantil Servicios Financieros in 23rd.
British-Dutch energy giant Shell meanwhile ranked 24th on the list. According to the data, Royal Dutch Shell has a market capitalisation of $225 billion. Shell has traditionally been one of the largest listed companies in the Netherlands, however, Unilever managed to briefly overtake Shell's first place in January 2016. Unilever today has a stock market value of almost $160 billion.