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World’s most admired companies 2026: Apple No. 1, Microsoft and Amazon follow
Fortune World's Most Admired Companies full list: Tech giants Microsoft, Amazon, and Nvidia are also in the top five in Fortune's 2026 World's Most Admired Companies list.
Apple bagged the title for the World's Most Admired Company according to Fortune's rankings. (photo credit: wikimedia commons)
World’s Most Admired Companies 2026: Apple was ranked the World’s Most Admired Company by fortune.com in its 2026 ranking, compiled in collaboration with Korn Ferry, a global organisational consulting firm.
According to Fortune, the Cupertino-based company ranked No. 1 in innovation, people management, use of corporate assets, social responsibility, quality of management, financial soundness, long-term investment value, and global competitiveness.
Microsoft secured the No. 2 spot, driven by its leading role in the generative AI revolution through its partnership with OpenAI, its Copilot-branded AI applications, and its in-house AI models.
Amazon, Nvidia, and JPMorgan Chase were ranked at No. 3, 4, and 5, respectively. Berkshire Hathaway and Costco Wholesale ranked at No. 6 and 7, respectively. Alphabet landed at No. 8, while Walmart ranked No. 9, and American Express rounded out the top 10.
How were the companies ranked
To select the top 50 “All-Stars,” Korn Ferry surveyed over 3,000 executives, directors, and securities analysts, asking them to name the 10 companies they admired most.
The ranking process began with around 1,500 companies, including the 1,000 largest US firms by revenue and non-US companies in Fortune’s Global 500 with revenues of at least $10 billion.
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After filtering out the highest-revenue companies in each industry, the list was narrowed to 685 companies across 29 countries. The top-rated companies from this group were then selected for the final ranking.
Results were not published for the Food and Drug Stores, Food Services, General Merchandisers, Mining-Crude Oil Production, Motor Vehicles, and Network and Communications Equipment categories because response rates were too low.
World’s Most Admired Companies 2026
| Rank | Company |
| 1 | Apple |
| 2 | Microsoft |
| 3 | Amazon |
| 4 | Nvidia |
| 5 | JP Morgan Chase |
| 6 | Berkshire Hathaway |
| 7 | Costco Wholesale |
| 8 | Alphabet |
| 9 | Walmart |
| 10 | American Express |
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