Apple Tops Fortune's List of World's Most Admired Companies for 11th Consecutive Year

Friday January 19, 2018 4:37 am PST by Joe Rossignol

Apple has topped Fortune's annual list of the World's Most Admired Companies for the 11th consecutive year.

Apple finished ahead of Amazon, the runner-up for a second consecutive year, while Google's parent Alphabet, Warren Buffett's holding company Berkshire Hathaway, and coffee chain Starbucks rounded off the top five.

Apple topped the list in every category, such as innovation, quality of management, social responsibility, use of corporate assets, financial soundness, quality of products and services, and global competitiveness.

The rankings were determined by some 3,900 executives, directors, and securities analysts who selected the 10 companies they admired most. More on Fortune's methodology:

As we have in the past, Fortune collaborated with our partner Korn Ferry on this survey of corporate reputations. We began with a universe of about 1,500 candidates: the 1,000 largest U.S. companies ranked by revenue, along with non-U.S. companies in Fortune's Global 500 database that have revenues of $10 billion or more. We then winnowed the assortment to the highest-revenue companies in each industry, a total of 680 in 29 countries. The top-rated companies were picked from that pool of 680; the executives who voted work at the companies in that group.

The complete list includes 50 companies, ranging from other tech giants like Microsoft at 7th and Facebook at 12th to iconic brands like Coca-Cola at 18th and McDonald's at 37th. On the upside, both Adidas and Lockheed Martin made it onto the list for the first time. Meanwhile, GE plummeted from 7th to 30th.

In terms of technology companies, Apple ranked sixth in Thomson Reuters' first-ever list of the Top 100 Global Technology Leaders.

Tag: fortune.com

Top Rated Comments

KamranMackey

42 months ago

And maybe for the last time.

I highly doubt that.

Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Jsameds

42 months ago

I'd admire them a lot more if they narrowed their profit margin, made their Macs upgradeable, bundled premium accessories with their premium products and used decent batteries in their phones.

But unfortunately it's not about admiration, it's about $$$$$$

Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Lone Deranger

42 months ago

Admired by shareholders.

Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)

dmylrea

42 months ago

"3,900 executives, directors, and securities analysts"...that explains it. They wish their company could make money hand-over-fist by selling mediocre product at profit margins most companies can only dream of.

Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)

BernyMac

42 months ago

Whew! I thought this is was one of those Tide Pod challenges that idiots are doing nowadays

Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Billsofat

42 months ago

Admired for what? Their throttling? Or their broken iOS 11 or root password bugs in Sierra? Or is it the $500 back glass repair?

Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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