The 20 Biggest Companies in the World (2024 Market Cap)

They rule the global economy.

Reviewed by Chris Leitch

Biggest companies in the world

As proven by this list of the 20 biggest companies in the world, even record downturns such as pandemics and conflicts can be easily survived by the world’s most powerful behemoths.

Besides making their shareholders wealthier, the largest companies offer benefits for jobseekers around the globe. The breadth of these businesses means opportunities in a wide variety of fields and at varying experience levels. The number of departments and positions provides room for advancement, and the international scope means you can reap the benefits of working abroad.

So, let’s take a look at the top 20 biggest companies by market capitalization across the globe.

1. Apple

Apple

2024 market cap: $3.02 trillion

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Apple is currently the world’s largest company in terms of market cap. The tech multinational continues to inspire cult-like devotion from its customers, and the sudden surge in supplying home offices during the pandemic made profits for the tech giant soar in the last few years.

Apple’s 161,000 employees enjoy good salaries and benefits in what is considered one of the best companies to work for in the world. The biggest danger to Apple is anti-monopoly legislation as it continuously strives to corner the market on smartphones, apps, computers, smart watches, digital music and even Oscar-winning films.

2. Microsoft

Microsoft

2024 market cap: $2.96 trillion

The second largest company in the stock market is Microsoft. The tech behemoth, which was founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, had its shares see record highs in recent months — with an all-time-high closing price that exceeded $389 in January 2024.

Led by Indian-American executive Satya Nadella, who holds the positions of both CEO and chairman, Microsoft’s workforce of 221,000 spans 190 countries in the world.

3. Saudi Aramco

Saudi Aramco

2024 market cap: $2.05 trillion

Currently in second place on the Fortune 500 list, the Saudi Arabian mining and oil production company has weathered global crises and continues to find ways to stay profitable.

Saudi Aramco, the third largest company in the world by market cap, incorporates sophisticated technology to help with environmental, government compliance, efficiency and financial processes throughout the company. Run with a workforce of around 70,500, those in search of high-level tech jobs will find ample opportunities here.

4. Alphabet

Google

2024 market cap: $1.85 trillion

Among the companies in the top of our list is, of course, Alphabet. Though best known for being Google’s parent company, Alphabet owns a diverse range of subsidiaries, including research and development organization X Development and biotechnology company Calico Life Sciences.

With founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin stepping down from their executive roles in late 2019, Alphabet found its new CEO in Stanford University alumnus Sundar Pichai.

5. Amazon

Amazon

2024 market cap: $1.61 trillion

Just as its founder Jeff Bezos became the richest person in the world, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and his e-retail empire surged in sales and subsequent profits. Although the entrepreneurial icon stepped away from Amazon’s day-to-day operations in 2021, the company continues to capitalize on multiple fronts.

A price hike on Amazon’s Prime delivery and on-demand entertainment business, coupled with the climb to over 200 million subscribers worldwide, contributes heavily to the company’s profitability.

In response to criticism of work conditions at its distribution warehouses, Amazon has increased wages and benefits for employees, and remains a powerhouse employer with more than 1.5 million workers worldwide.

6. Nvidia

Nvidia

2024 market cap: $1.48 trillion

If you’re a fan of video games, you’ll need no introduction to Nvidia. But for anyone who might not know, the Santa Clara-based multinational is a provider of high-end graphics processing units, which are electronic circuits that enhance computers’ graphics and image processing.

Nvidia currently enjoys a near-monopoly thanks to a market share that surpasses 80%.

7. Meta

Meta

2024 market cap: $990 billion

Formerly known as Facebook Inc, Meta Platforms is a multinational tech conglomerate headquartered in Menlo Park, California. Founder Mark Zuckerberg holds the position of chairman and CEO, coordinating the efforts of an impressive workforce that surpasses 86,000 employees.

Despite Facebook having been involved in multiple scandals over the years, there are still roughly 3 billion monthly active users on the social networking site, with Meta-owned Instagram attracting between 1 and 2 billion monthly users as well.

8. Berkshire Hathaway

Berkshire Hathaway

2024 market cap: $809 billion

Berkshire Hathaway’s CEO Warren Buffett still graces the world’s wealthiest lists and holds sway over investors hoping to achieve a mere fraction of his lifelong success.

His company is a juggernaut of a conglomerate that boasts the most expensive shares in history, runs a lucrative insurance division, and owns multiple companies including GEICO, Duracell, Dairy Queen and Helzberg Diamonds. The 380,000 workers with Berkshire Hathaway count on Buffett’s famously sensible business decisions to keep the company stable and profitable.

9. Tesla

Tesla

2024 market cap: $665 billion

Elon Musk and his automotive and clean energy company Tesla need little introduction. The 52-year-old entrepreneur is currently the richest man in the world, with a net worth that surpasses $251 billion… and that’s despite having lost a staggering amount of money in recent years — between $180–$200 billion, according to Guiness World Records. (If you’re wondering, the answer is yes; that’s the largest loss of personal fortune in history.)

Besides cars, Tesla makes solar panels, power banks and larger energy storage units. It’s also got humanoid robots on the way.

10. Eli Lilly

Eli Lilly

2024 market cap: $598 billion

Eli Lilly is an American pharmaceutical that’s headquartered in Indianapolis. It has offices in 18 countries and sells its products — including clinical depression drugs Cymbalta and Prozac — in around 125 nations.

The company gained a fair bit of notoriety back in 2009 for promoting its drug Zyprexa for uses that had not been approved by the FDA — and subsequently paying the largest-ever fine ($1.4 billion) in a healthcare case.

11. TSMC

TSMC

2024 market cap: $592 billion

As its name (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) suggests, TSMC designs and manufactures semiconductors for the electronics industry, with Apple, AMD, Nvidia and Qualcomm among its clients. When it was founded in 1987, it became the world’s first ever dedicated semiconductor foundry.

TSMC employs more than 73,000 people. In 2023, it had a market share of 56.4% in the global semiconductor foundry market.

12. Broadcom

Broadcom

2024 market cap: $574 billion

Broadcom designs, manufactures and supplies semiconductor products as well as infrastructure software products. Some common applications for its products include home connectivity, smartphones, displays and energy systems.

The global tech leader currently employs some 20,000 workers in 30 countries. Broadcom CEO Hock Tan is one of the highest paid CEOs in the US, having earned a reported $60.6 million in 2022 alone.

13. Visa

Visa

2024 market cap: $557 billion

Founded in 1958 by Bank of America, Visa has become one of the most valuable companies in the world. The payment card services corporation has its headquarters in San Fransisco and a workforce of around 28,000.

The company has four data centers — two in the US, one in England and one in Singapore — which process just about all its worldwide transactions. The centers are capable of an astonishing 100 billion computations per second!

14. JPMorgan Chase & Co

JPMorgan Chase

2024 market cap: $486 billion

JPMorgan Chase is the largest bank in the United States with assets amounting to $3.7 trillion in 2023. The financial services firm operates out of approximately 5,000 branches throughout the US, employing close to 300,000 people.

Its 200-year history makes it one of the oldest financial institutions in the world.

15. UnitedHealth Group

UnitedHealth Group

2024 market cap: $477 billion

Though headquartered in Minnesota, this health insurance giant employs 400,000 people in all 50 states and 33 additional countries.

The hugely profitable UnitedHealth offers individual and corporate plans as well as Medicare and Medicaid supplemental insurance. It also runs offshoot Optum, which specializes in technology-based health services, including benefits management and data analysis to manage prescription costs.

16. Novo Nordisk

Novo Nordisk

2024 market cap: $473 billion

Novo Nordisk is a multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Denmark. Though its main products, Ozempic and Wegovy, are used in the treatment of diabetes and obesity respectively, Novo Nordisk is also involved with hemostasis management, hormone replacement therapy and growth hormone therapy.

The pharmaceutical titan is currently the largest company in the European Union by market cap.

17. Walmart

Walmart

2024 market cap: $438 billion

More than half of Walmart’s 2.3 million employees work at its 5,000 retail and discount superstores in the US. The rest of its staff are based at their international locations in over 20 countries, including 400 retail outlets each in Canada and China.

Founder Sam Walton believed good service and lower prices could help improve people’s lives, and that mission has expanded most notably with the powerful company negotiating affordable drug prices for its customers. Walmart looks to preserve its lead by investing further in store technology, grocery delivery and its online store.

18. Mastercard

Mastercard

2024 market cap: $411 billion

Very aptly headquartered in the hamlet of Purchase in New York, Mastercard is a provider of payment services including transaction processing. It is the biggest competitor of Bank of America’s Visa.

Since its foundation nearly 60 years ago, in 1966, Mastercard has grown its global team to around 30,000 employees.

19. ExxonMobil

ExxonMobil

2024 market cap: $391 billion

ExxonMobil is without doubt one of the most widely recognizable companies in the world. It is the largest of the Big Oil companies (followed by Shell, TotalEnergies, BP and Chevron) and currently operates in 60 countries.

The oil and gas multinational has repeatedly faced criticism over its stance on the climate crisis. Despite its own scientists accurately projecting five decades ago the devastating effects that burning fossil fuels would have on the environment, ExxonMobil has been seen attempting to undermine climate science in recent years.

20. Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson

2024 market cap: $385 billion

Johnson & Johnson is a pharmaceutical and medical technologies multinational with a global workforce of 150,000 people, working under the leadership of chairman and CEO Joaquin Duato.

The company’s history dates back to the 19th century, when brothers Robert, James and Edward Johnson launched a line of ready-to-use sterile surgical dressings before founding the company.

Final thoughts

As you can see, the largest companies by market cap span several industries, including oil and gas, automotive, and banking products and services. Unsurprisingly, non-US-based businesses take up several slots on the list, but US giants continue to reign supreme in a combination of profits, assets and employment opportunities.

Jobseekers should consider the multiple benefits of working for large companies, including job stability, career development possibilities, and the ability to work internationally.

Have you worked for any of these leading companies? Share your experiences in the comment section below!

Originally published on April 4, 2022. Contains contributions by Valerie David.