There are many huge corporations. They are successful in many ways, measured by various methods, such as the revenue they have earned, their longevity, and their impact in business world. Here are the Top 10 lists according to some of the most common criteria.
Currently the top earners worldwide are:
- Wal-Mart Stores established in 1962 by Samuel Walton, their revenue is at $421,849,000,000
- Exxon Mobil while it was only formed in 1999 this company is a direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller and their revenue is at $364,035,000,000.
- Royal Dutch Shell established in 1907, their revenue is $368,056,000,000.
- BP their revenue is at $297,107,000,000.
- Sinopec their revenue is at $289,774,000,000.
- Toyota their revenue is at $241,590,000,000 despite the huge knock they took when they had to have massive recalls on their vehicles.
- PetroChina their revenue is at $221,955,000,000.
- Total SA their revenue is at $212,815,000,000.
- Chevron their revenue is at $ 204,928,000,000.
- Japan Post holdings their revenue is at $ 200,995,000,000.
But does that make them the most successful Businesses of all time as they are currently ranked as the top earners? What do we base business success on?
If it comes down to age the following companies are not the richest in the world but they have managed to last through the centuries I am sure that makes the criteria.
The top 10 oldest businesses in the world are:
- Kongo Gumi founded in 578 this Japanese company closed it’s doors in 2007 it is still an impressive run of business for any construction company.
- Hoshi Ryokan founded in 718 this innkeeping Japanese based business is still running.
- Chateau de Goulaine founded in 1000 this vineyard, museum and butterfly collection family business is still being run by the Goulaine family.
- Fonderia Pontificia Marinelli founded in 1000 in Italy this company still produces large bells for towers worldwide.
- Barone Ricasoli founded in 1141 this wine and olive oil producer is still going strong.
- Barovier & Toso founded in 1295 is a glass making company in Italy.
- Hotel Pilgrim Haus was founded in 1304
- Richard de Bas paper makers were founded in 1326.
- Torrini Firenze goldsmith was founded in 1369
- Antori wine producer was founded in 1383.
If admiration is what you rate in making a business the most successful then you could go by the list of the top ten most admired companies which is:
- Apple
- Berkshire Hathaway
- Southwest Airlines
- Procter & Gamble
- Coca Cola
- Amazon
- FedEx
- Microsoft
- McDonalds
We could go on to see which companies are rated the most ethical, which are the companies that employ the most people but ultimately the criteria for success is so broad that it is hard to really be accurate with this rating. Perhaps the only thing to do is to take the top hundred companies in each criteria and then see which ones fall in most criteria and choose those as the top 10 most successful.