Technology
Most Valuable U.S. Companies Over 100 Years
The Most Valuable Companies in America Over 100 Years
How much does the business world shift in a century?
Today’s visualization comes from HowMuch.net, and it uses Forbes data to show how the list of the top 10 companies in the U.S. has evolved over the last 100 years.
1917: The Industrialist Era
In 1911, both John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil and J.P. Morgan’s U.S. Steel (which was formed from Andrew Carnegie’s steel company and others) were facing antitrust action.
Standard Oil, which controlled over 90% of all oil in the United States by 1900, got split up into 34 independent companies after a ruling by the Supreme Court. However, U.S. Steel, which controlled 67% of steel in the country, was able to weather the antitrust storm at the time.
In the chart showing data for 1917, you can see that U.S. Steel – which was considered the world’s first “billion dollar” company – reigned supreme in the U.S. based on the value of its assets. Meanwhile, Standard Oil of N.J. (a fragment of the Standard Oil breakup) was still able to finish in the third spot on the list.
1967: The Hardware Era
Fast forward 50 years, and oil is still big.
Standard Oil of N.J. (eventually to be re-named as Exxon Corp. in 1972) is the fifth biggest company in the country. Texaco and Gulf Oil, both of which later merged into Chevron (another Standard Oil offshoot) also make the top 10 in terms of market valuation.
Aside from energy, the 1967 list seems dominated by companies that make tangible things. IBM was making some of the first and most advanced computers, GM was the largest U.S. auto manufacturer, and both Kodak and Polaroid made cameras. General Electric, a conglomerate, made everything from computers to jet engines at this time.
2017: The Platform Era
Fast forward to now, and platforms like Facebook, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Apple have taken over.
We’ve shown how these five companies make their billions, and also how Facebook and Google are able to dominate global ad revenues through scale.
Meanwhile, many of the stalwarts from 1967 have fallen: Polaroid and Kodak both filed for bankruptcy, and Sears Canada filed for bankruptcy months ago. And of the big names from 1917, only AT&T remains of significance.
This raises the question: what will the next 50 years hold – and how many names from the 2017 list will remain?
Technology
Charted: The Jobs Most Impacted by AI
We visualized the results of an analysis by the World Economic Forum, which uncovered the jobs most impacted by AI.
Charted: The Jobs Most Impacted by AI
This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.
Large language models (LLMs) and other generative AI tools haven’t been around for very long, but they’re expected to have far-reaching impacts on the way people do their jobs. With this in mind, researchers have already begun studying the potential impacts of this transformative technology.
In this graphic, we’ve visualized the results of a World Economic Forum report, which estimated how different job departments will be exposed to AI disruption.
Data and Methodology
To identify the job departments most impacted by AI, researchers assessed over 19,000 occupational tasks (e.g. reading documents) to determine if they relied on language. If a task was deemed language-based, it was then determined how much human involvement was needed to complete that task.
With this analysis, researchers were then able to estimate how AI would impact different occupational groups.
Department | Large impact (%) | Small impact (%) | No impact (%) |
---|---|---|---|
IT | 73 | 26 | 1 |
Finance | 70 | 21 | 9 |
Customer Sales | 67 | 16 | 17 |
Operations | 65 | 18 | 17 |
HR | 57 | 41 | 2 |
Marketing | 56 | 41 | 3 |
Legal | 46 | 50 | 4 |
Supply Chain | 43 | 18 | 39 |
In our graphic, large impact refers to tasks that will be fully automated or significantly altered by AI technologies. Small impact refers to tasks that have a lesser potential for disruption.
Where AI will make the biggest impact
Jobs in information technology (IT) and finance have the highest share of tasks expected to be largely impacted by AI.
Within IT, tasks that are expected to be automated include software quality assurance and customer support. On the finance side, researchers believe that AI could be significantly useful for bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing.
Still interested in AI? Check out this graphic which ranked the most commonly used AI tools in 2023.
-
Money7 days ago
Visualizing All of the U.S. Currency in Circulation
-
Markets2 weeks ago
Ranked: South Korea’s Largest Companies by Market Capitalization
-
VC+2 weeks ago
What’s New on VC+ in March?
-
Economy2 weeks ago
Confidence in the Global Economy, by Country
-
Wealth2 weeks ago
Mapped: Where Do the Wealthiest People in the World Live?
-
Misc2 weeks ago
Ranked: Global Airlines with the Most Plane Crashes
-
Technology1 week ago
Visualizing iPhone 15 Production by Manufacturer in 2023
-
Automotive1 week ago
Visualizing Global Electric Vehicle Sales in 2023, by Market Share