Saudi Aramco, Apple and Berkshire Hathaway - the most profitable companies in the world - 20.01.2025

From Big Tech to energy giants, a select group of corporate titans continue to dominate the global financial landscape, generating profits that exceed the GDPs of some countries, shows an analysis by visualcapitalist.com, based on figures published by Fortune.

The cited source presents the 50 most profitable companies in the world in the fiscal year 2024, the ranking includes both listed and private companies that report financial results. The figures represent profits after taxes, special income and non-controlling interests for the fiscal year under analysis.

According to Fortune, the most profitable company in the world in the fiscal year 2024 was the oil giant Saudi Aramco, thanks to its profits of $ 120.7 billion. Saudi Arabia's national oil company was also the world's sixth-largest company by market capitalization and the most valuable outside the United States as of January 2025.

With the largest proven oil reserves in the world, Saudi Aramco's production costs are $3 per barrel - a fraction of those of Western oil producers - making it more profitable than any other company in the world.

In second place is American technology giant Apple, supported by its high-margin services division and iPhone sales. Apple had a profit of $97 billion, according to the ranking. Warren Buffett's conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway came in third, with profits of $96.2 billion. Berkshire Hathaway also joined the $1 trillion market cap club in August, which also includes tech giants Apple, Microsoft and Nvidia. Of the world's 50 most profitable companies, 14 are in the financial industry, 12 in energy and eight in technology. The top three are followed in the top 10 by Alphabet, the owner of Google, with profits of $73.8 billion, Microsoft - with $72.4 billion, Industrial & Commercial Bank of China - with $51.4 billion, JPMorgan Chase & Co. - with $49.6 billion, China Construction Bank - with $47 billion, Meta Platforms (owner of Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp) - with $39.1 billion, and Agricultural Bank of China - with $38 billion. The following companies are ranked 11th to 20th: Exxon Mobil ($36 billion), Johnson & Johnson ($35.2 billion), Toyota Motor ($34.2 billion), Bank of China ($32.8 billion), Amazon ($30.4 billion), Nvidia ($29.8 billion), UBS Group ($27.8 billion), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing ($27.4 billion), Bank of America ($26.5 billion) and Petrobras ($24.9 billion). The next ten positions are held by HSBC Holdings ($23.5 billion), UnitedHealth Group ($22.4 billion), TotalEnergies ($21.4 billion), Chevron ($21.4 billion), China National Petroleum ($21.3 billion), China Merchants Bank ($20.7 billion), Stellantis ($20.1 billion), Shell ($19.4 billion), Deutsche Telekom ($19.2 billion) and Wells Fargo ($19.1 billion).

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