In a remarkable display of sustained corporate excellence by a certain iPhone giant, Fortune magazine named Apple the world’s most admired company for the 18th year in a row on Wednesday. The winning streak began in 2006 — a year before the iPhone first came out, and went on to dominate the market, propelling Apple to new heights.
Fortune names Apple world’s most admired company for 18th year in a row
Fortune determines its prestigious ranking placing Apple at the top of the list of the world’s most admired companies through an extensive survey of 3,380 business leaders across various industries and 30 countries. The top ranking reinforces Apple’s enduring influence in the global business landscape. And by the way, Fortune also named Steve Jobs CEO of the decade in 2009.
The comprehensive evaluation process for the most-admire company list began with Fortune and its partner, Korn Ferry, examining 1,500 companies. They include the largest 1,000 U.S. companies by revenue and international companies generating more than $10 billion in revenue annually. Executives, directors and analysts rated companies within their industries based on nine criteria. Those include investment value, innovation, quality of management, social responsibility and talent attraction.
In what has become a pattern in recent years, the technology sector dominated the top rankings, with Microsoft and Amazon completing the top three positions for the sixth consecutive year. However, the most notable movement in this year’s rankings came from Nvidia, which made a dramatic ascent to fourth place, climbing six positions from its previous ranking. Nvidia’s rise comes thanks to its crucial role in the generative AI revolution. Its GPU chips serving as the fundamental infrastructure for AI models developed by industry giants like OpenAI, Google and Microsoft.
Fortune‘s top 10 most admired companies in 2025:
- Apple
- Microsoft
- Amazon
- Nvidia
- Berkshire Hathaway
- Costco Wholesale
- JPMorgan Chase
- Walmart
- Alphabet
- American Express
TSMC makes the top 50
The rankings also highlighted some newcomers to the top 50 — notably, major Apple supplier Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) at No. 45, along with with cloud software provider ServiceNow (No. 42) and pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk (No. 46). This year’s list also reflected the continued dominance of American corporations, with all top 10 companies being U.S.-based for the second consecutive year.
Apple’s consistent leadership position is particularly noteworthy given a rapidly evolving business landscape, changing market conditions and advancing technology. The company has demonstrated excellence across multiple categories. It scored particularly well in social responsibility, financial soundness, innovation and global competitiveness in recent years.
The rankings also show technology companies’ increasing influence in shaping global business standards. But traditional sectors, represented by companies like Berkshire Hathaway, Costco and JPMorgan Chase in the top 10, remain important parts of the global economy, too, of course.
