Any company is created with only one sole purpose - to obtain high profits from its activities. The direction in which the work of the company takes place can, of course, be any, but each sober-minded manager of a large company with a worldwide reputation in any case certainly develops a detailed plan, which he adheres to to accomplish the tasks set. In this article, we will consider what the richest company in the world today is, who manages it and what it specifically does. A list of those organizations that hold leading positions in the world ranking of the richest corporations will also be presented.
The main field of activity
Studying the ranking of the richest companies on the planet, it is easy to notice even to an inexperienced person that today (to be precise, according to the results of 2015), the leading positions are held by those corporations whose main focus is modern technologies and their active implementation in our dynamic life. Also on the list are companies involved in the industrial sector, the oil and gas industry, pharmaceuticals, the consumer sector, telecommunications, and finance. At the same time, the richest company in the world, whose name will be mentioned below, is significantly ahead of its closest competitors in terms of capitalization. Surprisingly, this brand is not the oldest in age, but it managed to break out into absolute leaders both in terms of sales and authorized capital.
Bitten apple
It is this logo that the richest company in the world has chosen for itself. Her name is Apple. She appeared in 1976, and its creators were Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs and Ronald Wayne. The main focus of the company is the production of high-performance computer equipment, phones, laptops, tablets and other similar developments. It is worth noting that all Apple products are characterized by ease of use, convenience and accessibility for all segments of the population. The company very zealously protects all its latest technical developments from existing competitors, carefully monitors the quality of its products, and regularly opens new outlets. The company also has a huge number of patents for software development.
At the moment, Apple has the highest profitability on the planet in terms of number of products sold, design and level of prestige. It is very good that the company does not stop at the achieved results and constantly strives to move forward even despite the death of one of the ideological leaders - Steve Jobs. As a result, Apple is estimated at 748.7 billion US dollars.
The brainchild of Warren Buffett
Berkshire Hathaway began its triumphant ascent to the global Olympus of trade in 1962, when at that time the still little-known investor Buffett, noting the positive growth of this textile manufactory, invested his money in it.
Today, Berkshire Hathaway has somewhat changed its field of activity. Now she is involved in asset management for rail transport, confectionery, jewelry, publishing houses, vacuum cleaner manufacturers and the media business. The company has about two hundred thousand employees. At the end of 2015, a huge corporation ranked fifth in the world rating list with a capital of $ 351.2 billion.
Multi-vector giant
In 1878, General Electric was established. One of its founders was Thomas Edison himself, a legendary inventor and innovator. At the initial stage, the company was engaged in the production of incandescent lamps. In modern conditions, the company pays attention to several areas, namely:
- Medicine.
- Energy.
- To transport.
- Lighting equipment.
- Aviation
- To finance.
Largely due to such a wide range of business interests, the company took the ninth place in the world in terms of capital with an indicator of $ 275.4 billion.
Family business
One of America's most famous companies, Johnson and Johnson, arose in 1886 thanks to the efforts of the Johnson brothers - Robert, Edward, and James. Nowadays, the company is managed by Alex Gorsky.
The priority areas of company detail today are:
- Production of medical equipment and materials.
- Release of consumer goods.
- Pharmaceuticals
In addition, the company owns many other brands, including several of the largest brands on the planet, such as: Nizoral, Nicorette, OB, Clean & Clear, and others.
The current capitalization of Johnson and Johnson is $ 277.3 billion, which, in turn, allowed it to reach the eighth line in the world ranking.
Titanium trade
Wal-Mart Stores is another representative of the United States of America that arose in 1962 due to the efforts of Sam Walton.
The main activity of the company is retail trade, and in the stores of the giant you can buy literally everything from a needle and ending with household appliances. The format of stores is understandable to any modern person - hypermarkets, the hallmark of which is very low prices, you can even say wholesale. This feature of Wal-Mart Stores led to the fact that in those small cities where at least a retail outlet was opened for this company, all other smaller stores very often closed, not withstanding the competition with the giant.
The estimated cost of the company at the end of 2015 amounted to $ 240.4 billion. This amount of capital brought the American trading monster to the 15th line of the conditional rating.
Oil and gas monopolist
Chevron is the largest US energy corporation primarily involved in oil and gas production. It also processes raw materials, maintains and maintains a huge network of gas stations in good condition. The company was established back in 1879. Nowadays, the board of directors is headed by John Watson. It was largely thanks to his active position that the company was able to reach the capitalization level of $ 192.9 billion and stake out a position in the ranking of the richest companies in the world.
We also point out that Chevron is the second largest integrated oil corporation on the planet. The main office of the company is located in Houston. In addition, 40% of all world oil refineries use the technology of hydraulic oil processing according to the method of Chevron.
The largest engine manufacturers (DaimlerChrysler, Caterpillar, Cummins) are actively using Chevron lubricants and additives.
IT Service Provider
IBM is a manufacturer of the world's first computers. The American giant is known worldwide. It produces equipment for servers, ultrafast computers, programs, systems for storing a variety of data, and provides consulting services. In some ways, IBM is the benchmark that other similar corporations are guided by, because the level of its work is extremely high, and its activity has three main vectors:
- Global Services - control and management of various applications, implementation of system integration. About 200 thousand employees are involved in this area of activity.
- Software development. This work brings the company 25% of its profits.
- Server production.
In our reality, the company is valued at $ 167.1 billion (42nd in the world ranking).
The richest company in the world was indicated above, and it would be logical to talk about the silver and bronze "winners" of the competition in the capital level.
So, Microsoft Corporation with a registered capital of 380.7 billion dollars took the second position. Its creator is the well-known world public Bill Gates, who began to bring this company to the world market back in 1975. Today Microsoft is one of the leading manufacturers of computer hardware and software. The company also developed the Bing search engine.
Bronze went to the largest search engine in the world - Google. Estimated cost of the company is 367.9 billion dollars. The search engine processes more than 41 billion requests monthly and is rightfully considered to be a world leader in this direction.