Some of the biggest companies in the world are also some of the largest employers. With thousands of created jobs and plenty of revenue over their long history, these are also the types of companies that dictate trends in their areas of expertise. This article looks at the 10 biggest companies (in no particular order) in the world and why they can be considered true leaders.
Table of Contents
1. Walmart – 2.2 million employees
Judging purely by revenue, Walmart is the biggest company in the world. It’s also one of the biggest companies by the number of employees. With continuous growth from its humble Arkansas beginning, the company now owns a few thousand stores and supercenters in the US. The retail giant has a known presence in all US states, but its popularity also rose considerably with stores in India, China, and Brazil.
Walmart is also present in the UK as ASDA. The shopping giant ASDA is known for its low prices and wide presence around the country. It has been successfully expanding its stores and is also at the forefront of the first British self-checkout retailers.
Walmart also stopped selling guns in almost all of its stores recently. But the company is still focused on selling the most popular products on its shelves rather than receiving fees from manufacturers to showcase various products.
2. China Petrochemical Corporation – 582,000 employees
Founded just 22 years ago, China Petrochemical Corporation is responsible for refining oil and oil products. It makes diesel, gasoline, jet fuel, and other types of rubber petroleum-based products. It has been the second world’s largest company by revenue for a few years.
The company is open to investment. It has been listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and its assets have been growing quickly over the past 2 decades. Today, the company also has an increasing role in producing biodiesel.
3. State Grid – 900,000 employees
The Chinese State Grid company is responsible for electricity distribution. Its role in the local market is impressive as the company also employs nearly 1 million people. It has been growing in global importance in terms of its role as the biggest utility company. However, it has had its share of trouble in the past as well. Just a few years ago, its CEO Feng Jun was sentenced to life in prison for taking millions in bribes.
4. China National Petroleum – 1.3 million employees
China National Petroleum is responsible for gas extraction and the creation of technologies for gas extraction. It’s the world’s 4th richest company and since it’s owned by the state, it also employs more than 1 million people, making it a local giant in China with international importance.
China National Petroleum is under the Administration of the State-Owned assets Supervision Commission. This conglomerate of companies has been responsible for trading more than $26 trillion, making China the country with the biggest companies in the top 10 list.
Telecom, electronics, and shipbuilding companies are other corporations under this umbrella working to make China a world leader in all types of manufacturing and trading companies. This conglomerate also owns the popular Aerospace and Science Technology Corporation of China. It has the potential of becoming the world’s biggest employer.
5. Shell – 83,000 employees
The Dutch-British consortium is one of the biggest players in the extraction of oil from its humble beginning in the West Indies. Today, the Dutch company, Royal Dutch Petroleum, joined forces with the British firm Shell to be one of the dominant players in oil extraction around the world.
Shell is the first company listed on the world-class London Exchange. It has been receiving considerable investments from other companies. It even has some of the best staff on its board of directors with people that have worked at other large companies before. However, even with such a powerful board of directors, Shell still overstated their oil reserves back in 2015 which shook the customer’s trust in the oil giant for a few years.
6. Saudi Aramco – 79,000 employees
This Middle East company creates thousands of jobs and employs people in the oil and gas world. It has the world’s second-largest oil reserves, and it has a crucial role in crude oil production. The company is directly governed by the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Petroleum.
7. Volkswagen – 300,000 employees
Volkswagen is owned by Porsche, the State of Lower Saxony in Germany, and by the Qatar Investment Authority. The company is one of the biggest car manufacturers in history with multiple world records for high sales and innovation. It was recently hit by the famous emissions scandal, but it seems Volkswagen is coming back again strong.
8. British Petroleum – 73,000 employees
British Petroleum, BP, is one of the biggest companies in the world is known for its oil and gas role in the world’s economy. British Petroleum owns multiple oil platforms and multiple oil stations which allows it to position itself as a world leader in transportation. Extracting oil is one of the tasks the British company is known for.
9. Amazon – 1.3 million employees
This US company is a world leader in cloud computing and eCommerce. It dominates the eCommerce world in the US, the most competitive country for making online sales. In time, Amazon went on to work with various vendors and the company even launched its own products, which took its revenue further.
Further growth for Amazon is supported through Whole Foods groceries. The company also owns audiobook giant audible.com as well as the gaming streaming company Twitch.
10. Toyota – 364.000 employees
With its official headquarters in Aichi Japan, Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world. The company has a significantly high market value, employing hundreds of thousands of people in production both in Japan and across the world. Some of the cars have been considered truly innovative and many of them are seen as the most durable in the world, so its number 10th spot is well-deserved.
