10 Largest Companies In The US Ranked By Market Cap

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is one of the oldest and probably best-known stock indexes in the world. It is composed of 30 U.S.-based "blue chip" stocks, which change periodically based on market fluctuations and the fortunes of the individual companies. Four of the 10 largest U.S. companies ranked by market capitalisation were members of the DJIA as of 8 June 2022.^[2]

However, all 10 are components of the S&P 500, which tracks the performance of 500 large-cap American stocks and is probably the most widely-followed stock index.

These are the 10 largest publicly traded companies in the U.S. by market capitalisation as of 3 June 2022 in U.S. dollars.^[1] Market cap is calculated by multiplying the number of the company's common shares outstanding by the market value of each share.

1. Apple

Apple Inc. ranked number one in the U.S. in terms of market cap, at US$2.35 trillion as of 3 June 2022. It was also the first company to top the US$1 trillion mark.^[1]

Based in Cupertino, California, Apple was founded in 1977 by then-high school classmates Steve Jobs and Stephen Wozniak, who operated out of Jobs' family's garage. The two went on to create the world's first personal computer.^[4]

The company employs 154,000 full-time employees and designs and produces dozens of hardware and software products. They include Mac desktop PCs and laptops, iPad tablet computers, iPhones, Apple Watches and Apple TV.^[5]

Apple also operates a global chain of consumer retail stores known as Apple Stores, in which it sells its products. In addition, it operates the online App Store, where people can download and stream mobile phone apps, music, movies and other entertainments. It operates Apple Pay as well, which is a cashless payment system.^[5]

2. Microsoft

Microsoft is the second-most valuable publicly traded company in the U.S., with a market cap of about US$2.02 trillion as of 3 June 2022.^[1]

Based in Redmond, Washington, the company was founded in 1975 by Bill Gates, the third-richest person in the world, according to Forbes magazine, with a net worth of US$129 billion as of April 2022. Steve Ballmer, who succeeded Gates as chief executive officer and ran the company from 2000 to 2014, is the ninth-richest, at US$91.4 billion.^[11]

The company originally built computer software but has since branched out to multiple hardware and software products and services, which it either manufactures or licenses to others. With more than 140,000 full-time employees, the company's main products include the Office suite of computer programs, its Outlook email system, Skype, and OneDrive.^[3]

Microsoft owns the LinkedIn professional networking website, and its consumer hardware products include the Surface tablet computer and the series of Xbox gaming consoles. It also operates the Bing search engine, the MSN news website, the Edge web browser, and cloud computing services.^[3]

3. Alphabet (Google)

Google was founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin as an online computer search engine but has grown into one of the largest companies in the world. It offers more than 50 products and services, including its Android operating system for mobile phones and tablets, and dozens of popular apps, including Google Maps and Google Play. It also owns the YouTube video platform. Google derives most of its revenue from online advertising through its search engine.^[7]

Google parent Alphabet Inc. had a market cap of US$1.405 trillion as of 13 June 2022, ranking third.^[1] According to Forbes, Page and Brin are, respectively, the sixth- and seventh-wealthiest people in the world, with net worths of US$111 billion and US$107 billion as of April 2022.^[11]

Alphabet is based in Mountain View, California, and employs nearly 119,000 people.^[8]

4. Amazon.com

Amazon.com is the largest online retailer as well as a major cloud services provider. It's also the fourth-largest U.S. company by market cap, at US$1.238 trillion as of 3 June 2022.^[1]

The company was founded in 1994 in Seattle by Jeff Bezos, who ranked as the world's second-richest person in April 2022 after Elon Musk with a net worth of US$171 billion.^[11]

Amazon started out selling books, CDs and movies on the web before branching out into a vast retail operation selling just about everything worldwide. It also created and markets Kindle and Fire tablets, Fire TVs, and Echo virtual personal assistants. The Amazon Web Services (AWS) unit offers cloud storage and software to corporations.^[6]

Amazon owns the Whole Foods grocery chain and Ring, a home security product. ^[6] It employs more than 1.5 million employees, most of them warehouse, transport and delivery workers.^[12]

5. Tesla

Tesla was the fifth-most valuable company in the U.S. as of 3 June 2022 with a market cap of US$730.52 billion.^[1]

Tesla was founded in 2003 and is based in Austin, Texas. The company's main business is the manufacture and sale of electric vehicles, which are produced in its factories in Fremont, California and Shanghai, China. It also makes clean energy generation and storage products, such as solar roof panels.^[13]

The company is headed by CEO Elon Musk, the South African-born entrepreneur who was one of Tesla's earliest investors. He also co-founded PayPal and founded SpaceX, the space exploration company. In 2022 he made a bid to acquire Twitter.^[15]

According to Forbes, Musk was the world's richest man as of April 2022, with a net worth of US$219 billion.^[11]

6. Berkshire Hathaway

Berkshire Hathaway is the sixth-largest U.S. company based on market cap, which totaled US$688.3 billion as of 3 June 2022.^[1]

The company is headed by founder and CEO Warren Buffett, who is ranked as the fifth-richest person in the world by Forbes with a net worth of US$118 billion. He is considered to be one of the most successful investors of all time.^[11]

Berkshire is a conglomerate made up of dozens of companies, including insurance, real estate, railroads, furniture, food, and shoes.^[16]

Berkshire is also one of the largest investors in several other publicly-traded companies, including Apple, Bank of America, American Express, Chevron, Coca-Cola, and Kraft-Heinz.^[17]

7. Meta Platforms, Inc (Facebook)

Facebook parent company Meta Platforms is the seventh-largest U.S. company by market cap, at US$547.69 billion as of 3 June 2022.^[1]

The company was founded in 2004 by CEO Mark Zuckerberg and three of his classmates while they were at Harvard University.^[9] Zuckerberg is the world's 15th-richest person, worth US$67.3 billion according to Forbes, as of April 2022.^[11]

Based in Menlo Park, California, the company employs nearly 45,000 people. In addition to its flagship social network, the company also owns the Facebook Messenger messaging app; Instagram, a photo and video sharing platform; and WhatsApp, a private messaging app.^[10]

The company changed its name to Meta Platforms in October 2021, although its flagship social media platform is still called Facebook.^[18]

8. NVIDIA

NVIDIA was the eighth-largest company in the U.S. based on a market cap of US$469.16 billion as of 3 June 2022.^[1] Incorporated in 1993 and based in Santa Clara, California, NVIDIA provides computer graphics, gaming software, artificial intelligence, networking, and a host of other high-tech solutions.^[19]

9. Johnson & Johnson

Pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is the ninth-largest U.S. company by market cap, at US$465.17 billion as of 3 June 2022.^[1] The company was founded in 1887 and is the oldest company in the top 10. It is based in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and employs about 132,000 people.^[14]

J&J produces a wide variety of consumer and professional medical products and services. Its best-known brands include Band-Aids, Tylenol and Motrin pain relievers, Listerine mouthwash, Stayfree and Carefree feminine products, Aveeno skin care products, and Johnson's baby powder and shampoo.^[14]

10. UnitedHealth Group

UnitedHealth is the tenth-most valuable U.S. company with a market cap of US$456.98 billion as of 3 June 2022.^[1] The healthcare and insurance company was created in 1977 and is based in Minnetonka, Minnesota.

UnitedHealth operates through four main segments: UnitedHealthcare offers health insurance for consumers through their employers; OptumHealth operates a network of care providers; OptumInsight provides software and information products and advisory consulting; and OptumRx provides pharmacy services.^[20]

Summary

The 10 biggest companies in the U.S. ranked by market capitalisation include many of the most successful and best-known firms in the world. Seven of the 10 are relatively young technology companies. Four of the 10 (Apple, Microsoft, J&J, and UnitedHealth) are components of the DJIA, and all 10 are part of the S&P 500.