With a networth of $2.1 trillion, Apple is the most valuable company in the world, followed by Microsoft and Amazon with $1.6 trillion each and Alphabet $1.2 trillion, according to The 2020 Hurun Global 500 ranking.

There were 11 Indian companies in the list, led by Reliance Industries with a networth of $169 billion, followed by Tata Consultancy Services ($139 billion) and HDFC Bank ($108 billion).

Facebook came in fifth with a networth of $816 billion, followed by Tencent Holdings ($715 billion), Alibaba ($712 billion) and Berkshire Hathaway $548 billion, according to the ranking, a list of 500 most valuable non-state-controlled companies in the world.

The ranking, released in association with China luxury tea brand Empereur, is based on value, defined as market capitalisation for listed companies and valuations for non-listed companies. The cut-off date was December 1, 2020.

The total value of Hurun Global 500 companies hit $50 trillion, equivalent to combined GDPs of world’s six largest economies (the US, China, Japan, Germany, India and the UK). Despite Covid-19, Hurun Global 500 rose by 25 per cent to an average of $99.3 billion, with 60 companies doubling in value terms and 25 being from the US and 21 from China.

These 500 companies employ 43 million in total (an average of 86,000 employees per company), which is the equivalent of the working population of Germany. The total sales of these firms stood at $18 trillion (an average of $38 billion) larger than the GDP of China.

11 Indian companies in list

India’s 11 companies led by Reliance Industries ($169 billion), followed by Tata Consultancy Services ($139 billion) and HDFC Bank ($108 billion) were also in the list. Financial Services led the way, with five companies, followed by software and services and telecommunications with 2 each.

Also read: Wealth of India’s rich grows despite pandemic-led headwinds

About 49 per cent or 239 of the non-India Hurun Global 500 have a regional presence in India, spread across 10 cities, led by Mumbai with 64, by Bengaluru with 39, Gurugram (27), New Delhi (23) and Pune with (11).

“Although only 11 companies from India made it to the Hurun Global 500, it is interesting to note that more than half of the non-Indian companies in Hurun Global 500 have their regional presence in India, demonstrating the importance of India in the global supply chain and the country’s demographic dividend,” Anas Rahman Junaid, MD and Chief Researcher, Hurun India said.

While the Hurun Global 500 focuses only on non-state-controlled companies, State Bank of India with a networth of $33 billion would have made the cut off as a listed company.

“To make the cut-off of the Hurun Global 500 required a value of $31.9 billion. Companies from the Hurun Global 500 were founded in 1956 on average, with sales last year of $38 billion and 86,000 employees. Surprisingly, there has been no slowdown in a year dominated by Covid-19. Far from it. The total value rose by 25 per cent,” Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of Hurun Report, said.

comment COMMENT NOW