The 2017 Forbes Global 2000 List Highlights Industry Leaders

Author: Isabel Kadar

Published:

Forbes released the 2017 rankings for the World’s Biggest Public Companies, or the Global 2000, on Wednesday, May 24. Company rankings are composite scores determined by weighing sales, profits, assets, and market value. The United States contributes the most companies to the list with 565 members. China and Hong Kong supply the second largest with 263 companies. According to Forbes, “the world’s biggest companies have gotten bigger, more profitable and more valuable in the past year. 58 countries were represented, down from last year's 62 with Cyprus, Kazakhstan, Romania and Malta no longer boasting companies on the list.”

The Top Ten companies, which are from the United States, China, and Japan, include:

  1. ICBC
  2. China Construction Bank
  3. Berkshire Hathaway
  4. JPMorgan Chase
  5. Wells Fargo
  6. Agricultural Bank of China
  7. Bank of America
  8. Bank of China
  9. Apple
  10. Toyota Motor

Companies in the financial services industry dominate the list, however, technology and transportation manufacturing companies hold high ranks as well. The top three technology companies are Apple (#9), Samsung Electronics (#15), and Microsoft (#19). According to an article released by Forbes about the largest technology companies of 2017, “new to this list this year is Snap, Inc., the biggest social media IPO since Twitter went public three years ago. The company recently went public in March” and is ranked at #1694 on the list.

The United States companies Wal-Mart Stores (#17), CVS Health (#66), and Amazon.com (#83) compose the top three retail companies on the list. Amazon.com jumped 154 spots from last year’s position on the list as an e-commerce empire. Christian Dior (#189) took the number one spot this year from Nike as the top apparel company, with Nike (#249) in second and Inditex in third (#276).

In the food and beverage industry, the Swiss company Nestle (#34) is number one, followed by the United States giants PepsiCo (#84) and Coca-Cola (#86). The top three hospitality companies are McDonald’s (#215), Carnival (#270), and Starbucks (#370). The top two restaurants are McDonald's and Starbucks, however, McDonald's fell from its spot on the list last year as #189 since “the burger giant has seen heightened competition from the fast-casual sector (i.e, chains like Shake Shack, Chipotle, Panera Bread).” Chipotle fell off the Global 2000 list completely after it suffered a significant loss of sales following the outbreak of E. coli earlier last year.

The 2017 Forbes Global 2000 List includes companies from a range of industries. Visit the globalEDGE industry page and select an industry to explore information about the companies within it.