Top 10 largest companies in the world by revenue

Competent investment in stocks and other securities is impossible without knowledge of the global economic market. For novice investors, the most reliable strategy would be to buy the assets of stable and successful global corporations. However, not all market participants sell their shares directly and not all securities may be available at a cost. In such a situation, an alternative option is to purchase an ETF (a portfolio of securities, which may include shares of shares) through a reliable broker.

One of the most significant indicators of the stability of the company and its usefulness for the economy is the total amount of revenue: if it grows, it means that the goods and services of the enterprise are in demand on the market. In addition, revenue is the main source of funds for the existence of a business.

Today we bring to your attention the top 10 largest companies in terms of revenue in 2020. Data is based on the Fortune Global 500 ranking.

Tops the list of the largest companies in the United States and around the world in terms of revenue.

• Founded in 1962.
• Industry – retail trade in food and consumer goods.
• The stock ticker is WMT.
• Working capital — $524 billion
• Net profit — $14 billion (doubled in 2020).

The largest supermarket chain in the United States, Mexico and Canada that sells groceries and consumer goods at below average prices.

Founder Sam Walton started his business by buying franchises of a popular supermarket chain in the 50s. In 1962, he opened his own store, which he named Wal-Mart Discount City. The name uses the first three letters of the founder’s last name. In 1970, the company became public – its shares went on free sale on the stock exchange. By the mid-1980s, there were several hundred retail outlets in the US. In the future, the network began to progressively grow and expand the geography of its presence in Asia and South America.

In 2016, Walmart acquired one of the most promising online marketplaces in the world, Jet, for $3 billion. com, and in 2018 the company became the owner of another e-commerce leader – Flipkart. The purchase cost the corporation $ 16 billion and became the largest deal in the history of global online trading.

The company can be an interesting option for investors wishing to invest in foreign shares.

The level of capitalization and the constant growth in the value of Walmart’s assets allows us to hope for the further development of the company in the long term.

China Oil Refining and Chemical Corporation. It is one of the most successful and fastest growing state-owned companies in China. It ranks second in terms of oil production in the country.

• Year of foundation – 2000.
• The stock ticker is SHA.
• Working capital — $369 billion
• Net profit — $5.8 billion
• Chairman of the Board of Directors – Dai Houliang.

Former president Chen Tonghai (from 2003 to 2007) was convicted of bribery and sentenced to death in 2009. Another company head, Wang Tianpu, was also convicted of bribery in 2017 for 15.5 years.

The company was established as a result of the reorganization of the State Petrochemical Corporation of China. It is engaged in the development of oil and gas condensate fields, oil and gas processing and the sale of products. Immediately after its founding, the company placed more than 16 billion of its shares on the world’s leading stock exchanges. A year later, an additional issue was made.

The company produces part of the oil in African countries – Gabon, Sudan, Cameroon, Nigeria, Egypt. Oil fields are being developed in Canada – in 2011, the Canadian company Daylight Energy was bought. Sinopec owns 49% of the shares of the Russian company Udmurtneft and 10% of the shares of SIBUR Holding.

The retail network of Sinopec Group in the form of gas stations is the largest in China. The corporation has more than 30,000 fuel sales points in the country and 353 oil storage facilities.

The state-owned China Energy Corporation climbed to third place in the top companies in 2020 in terms of the largest sales volume. On the stock exchange, the assets of this company are presented in the form of Eurobonds.

• Year of foundation – 2002.
• The industry is the power industry.
• Working capital – 387 billion dollars.
• Net profit — $8.1 billion

The largest corporation in the energy industry, established by decision of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China in the course of a long-term reform of the energy sector of the republic. It implements its projects not only in China, but also in other Asian countries.

The company cooperates with Russian energy companies, buys power grid assets in Brazil, Nigeria, the Philippines and other countries. In the domestic market of China, it is an absolute monopoly in the field of electricity supplies. In 2011–2015 the company participated in the development and implementation of a smart grid project for China using high voltage lines.

State Grid has many subsidiaries and over 1.5 million employees.

Another state-owned Chinese corporation in our top of the most profitable companies in the world, a competitor to the Sinopec Group.

• Founded in 1988.
• The industry is oil refining.
• The ticker in the market is PTR.
• Annual turnover – 364 billion dollars.
• Net profit — $2.2 billion
• Chairman of the Board of Directors – Wang Yilin.

Included in the top companies in the world with the highest income in the history of the modern economy. Engaged in the development, production and processing of hydrocarbons.

The beginning of the history of the corporation can be called 1950, when the first oil producing enterprise in the country was created in the form of a joint Sino-Soviet project Sino-Russian Petroleum Company. After China became one of the world’s largest oil-producing states, the authorities decided to combine the assets of many disparate companies into a single whole.

The controlling stake in the company belongs to the state. The corporation is engaged in the development of oil and gas condensate fields on land and on the shelf within the country and is actively developing the international market. China National Petroleum is interested in Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Russia, Azerbaijan, African countries, Venezuela, Peru.

During the year, the company processes hundreds of millions of tons of oil, producing diesel fuel, gasoline, kerosene, ethylene, synthetic rubber and other products. The company owns a network of gas stations (more than 20 thousand), as well as mini-markets and fast foods.

British-Dutch oil producing and processing company, one of the largest in the world both in terms of profit and revenue. It has headquarters in The Hague and dozens of subsidiaries in many countries around the world.

• Year of foundation – 1907.
• The stock ticker is RDSA.
• The industry is oil production and refining.
• Turnover – 311 billion dollars.
• Net profit – 15.843 billion dollars.
• Chairman of the Board of Directors – Charles Halliday.

It was created by merging the leading oil companies of the Netherlands and Britain at the beginning of the 20th century. The goal of the conglomerate at the time of formation was to compete with the US corporation Standard Oil.

From the day it was founded to this day, the company has been developing and operating oil and gas fields around the world. The brand owns the idea of ​​liquefying natural gas in order to transport it over long distances.

Today, Royal Dutch Shell has branches for hydrocarbon production in more than 80 countries around the world. The corporation owns the world’s largest network of filling stations (more than 55,000 stations). In addition to hydrocarbon fuels, the company is actively engaged in the production of solar panels and the development of other alternative energy sources. In 2017, it acquired Europe’s largest network of electric vehicle charging points.

The largest oil producing and processing company in Saudi Arabia, headquartered in Darkhan. The corporation’s profits account for about 80% of the country’s total budget.

• The year of foundation is 1933.
• The stock ticker is SAR.
• Industry – production and processing of oil and gas.
• Turnover – 329 billion dollars.
• Net income in 2020 – $11.789 billion
• The President is Abdulaziz Al-Falih.

Until 2019, Saudi Aramco had never been ranked among the highest profitable companies in the world. However, the reason is not that it made an unprecedented leap – just until that time the giant did not provide the public with official reporting of its economic activities.

Saudi Aramco was founded in 1933 after an agreement between the government of Saudi Arabia and the American mining company Standard Oil of California. Gradually, state structures achieved full control of the enterprise, having bought out all its assets by 1980. In 1988, the name of the corporation was changed to the modern one.

The company began publicly selling its shares on the Saudi Stock Exchange only in 2019. As a result of the initial offering, the proceeds amounted to $ 25.6 billion, which was a record value in the history of trading on this site.

Saudi Aramco is not only among the top companies in terms of revenue, but also in the list of the most valuable corporations with a capitalization of $1.88 trillion. It is the world leader in production and global hydrocarbon reserves.

German concern, which includes 48 enterprises engaged in the automotive industry and located in Europe, Asia and other parts of the world. The daily number of cars produced is 26.6 thousand units. The products are supplied to 150 countries of the world.

• Year of foundation – 1937.
• Founder – Ferdinand Porsche.
• The industry is mechanical engineering.
• The stock ticker is VOW3.
• Annual turnover – 275.2 billion dollars.
• Net profit — $14 billion

The group also includes other well-known car brands – Audi, ŠKODA, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Porsche, Bentley and so on.

The first plant was built in Wolfsburg in 1938, but after the defeat of Germany in World War II, the management of the enterprise was transferred to the British military administration. After the formation of the Federal Republic of Germany, the rights to the Volkswagen plants were transferred to the federal government, and in 1985 the enterprise received its modern name.

In the 1990s, the concern was in a state of crisis, but thanks to the new chairman of the board, Ferdinand Piech, the company was saved from disintegration. One of the key roles in anti-crisis management was played by the transition of VW factories to a four-day work week.

The concern is currently planning to build a new giant plant in China and start producing electric vehicles. In the Russian Federation, the company’s distributor is Volkswagen Group Rus LLC. More than 200 thousand cars of this brand are sold annually in Russia.

Until 2001, this oldest transnational corporation headquartered in London was called British Petroleum. About a third of the company’s total turnover comes from activities in the United States. BP owns a 20% stake in Rosneft.

• Year of foundation – 1909.
• The industry is oil and gas.
• Founder – William Knox D’Arcy.
• The stock ticker is BP.
• Turnover – 278.4 billion dollars.
• Net profit — $9.3 billion
• Executive Director – Robert Dudley.

The history of the company began with the exploration and development of deposits in Persia at the beginning of the 20th century. An oil refinery was built in Iran, which became the largest in the world. In the 1920s, the company built factories and branches in dozens of countries in Europe, Africa and Asia.

In the 1960s and 70s, British Petroleum was developing new fields in British territorial waters, as well as in Alaska. In subsequent decades, the company bought up other mining and processing enterprises around the world, including Atlantic Richfield Co., Amoco, Burmah Castrol.

In the new century, the company somewhat changed the vector of development and, in addition to its main activity, took up alternative energy. BP initiated the pan-European program “Clean City” and advocated for quotas for greenhouse gas emissions.

The world’s largest e-commerce platform founded by Jeff Bezos. The company began as an online bookstore, which gradually expanded the scope of activities. Amazon today. com is a leader in online sales of consumer goods.

• Year of foundation – 1994.
• The industry is online retail.
• The ticker is AMZN.
• Founder – Jeff Bezos.
• Revenue — $280.5 billion
• Net profit — $11.5 billion
• The President is Jeff Bezos.

Jeff Bezos has repeatedly topped the Forbs list as the richest person on the planet. In August 2020, he became the first billionaire in modern history to exceed $200 billion.

Capitalization of Amazon. com exceeds $1.5 trillion: in terms of the total value of shares on the stock market, the corporation is in third place after Apple and Microsoft.

The company employs more than 200 thousand employees.

Today, on Amazon’s trading floors, you can buy household appliances, food, household and children’s goods. The company has opened branches in dozens of countries around the world, including the UK, Germany, Japan, Brazil, China, and India.

The world’s largest engineering concern from Japan. In addition to the production of cars, it provides financial services and develops new lines of business.

• The year of foundation is 1924.
• The industry is mechanical engineering.
• Founder: Sakichi Toyoda.
• Annual turnover – 278 billion dollars.
• Net profit — $19.5 billion
• The President is Akio Toyoda.

The founder of the world famous automobile factory was originally engaged in the production of looms. His son Kiitaro became interested in the new direction, who, using the proceeds from the sale of a patent for weaving equipment, organized an automobile branch of the company. In 1934, the first Toyota car was assembled. During the war years, the concern was engaged in the production of trucks for the needs of the military industry.

Only after the end of World War II did the company seriously take up the production of commercial vehicles. In the 1960s, production expanded to other continents. Since 2007, Toyota has been the world’s best-selling car brand. In addition, it is the most expensive car brand on the planet.

In Russia, Toyota is represented by two subsidiaries. In total, there are dozens of branches and divisions of the concern in the world that produce cars, trucks, sports vehicles, construction and industrial special equipment. In 2019, the company developed a project for a lunar planetary rover, on which astronauts will be able to move on the surface of the Earth’s satellite without spacesuits.

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