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Visualizing Financials of the World’s Biggest Companies: From IPO to Today

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In today’s fast-paced world, companies need to adapt if they want to stay relevant. Even the Big Tech giants can’t get too comfortable—to remain competitive, large corporations like Google and Amazon are constantly innovating and evolving.

This series of graphics by Truman Du illustrates the income statements of five of the world’s biggest companies—Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Tesla, and Alphabet—and shows how their financials have evolved since the date of their very first public disclosures.

Editor’s note: Click on any graphic to see a full-width version that is higher resolution. Also, because these companies are in some cases 10,000x the size they were at IPO date, the two visual financial statements are not meant to be directly comparable in sizing.

Visual Income Statements: From IPO to Today

Let’s start with Apple, the first company to go public, and the biggest in the mix:

1. Apple

Apple's Evolving Revenue Streams

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Back in 1998, Apple went by the name “Apple Computer,” because at the time, the company only sold computers and computer hardware kits. However, over the next decade, the company expanded its product offerings and started to sell various consumer tech products like phones, portable music players, and even tablets.

Apple’s consumer tech was so successful, that by 2007 the company decided to drop “Computer” from its name. Fast forward to today, and the company also generates revenue through services like Apple TV and Apple Pay.

While computers are still a core part of its business, the iPhone has become the biggest revenue driver for the company.

In 2021, Apple generated $94.7 billion in profit at a 26% margin. Today, the company is one of the only Big Tech companies that has been able to withstand the industrywide drop in valuations. Sitting strong with a market capitalization over $2 trillion, the company is worth roughly the same as Amazon, Alphabet, and Meta combined.

2. Microsoft

Microsoft's Evolving Revenue Streams

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Microsoft, one of the oldest companies on this list, went public in 1985. Back then, the company only sold microprocessors and software—hence the name Micro-Soft.

And while Microsoft’s flagship operating system (Windows) is still one of its major revenue drivers, the company’s product offerings have become much more diverse.

Now, its revenue streams are split fairly evenly between its cloud service (Azure), productivity tools (Office), and personal computing (Xbox and Windows OS).

3. Amazon

Amazon's Evolving Revenue Streams

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When Amazon went public in 1997, the online retailer was only selling books.

But by 1998, Amazon started rapidly expanding its product offering. Soon it was selling everything from CDs and toys to electronics, and even tools.

Fast forward to now, and the ecommerce segment of Amazon has become just a portion of the company’s overall business.

Amazon is also a cloud-service provider (AWS), supermarket chain (with its grocery brands Amazon Fresh and its acquisition of Whole Foods) and even a video streaming service (Prime Video). In particular, AWS stands out as an important part of Amazon’s overall business, driving a whopping 74% of operating profits.

4. Alphabet

Alphabet's Evolving Revenue Streams

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When Google went public in 2003, it was a simple search engine that generated about $1.4 billion in ad revenue from its website and cloud network.

Today, the company (now renamed Alphabet) has become synonymous with the internet, and accounts for an overwhelming majority of the internet’s search traffic. Because of this, it generates hundreds of billions in ad revenue each year.

The company also owns YouTube, and has branched out into different verticals as well like consumer tech (Fitbit), and premium streaming (YouTube Premium &TV).

5. Tesla

Tesla's Evolving Revenue Streams

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Tesla’s IPO was in 2008, making it the youngest company on the list. And as the newest kid on the block, Tesla’s revenue streams haven’t changed as drastically as the others have.

However, while electric vehicles are still the company’s main revenue driver, Tesla has managed to dip its toes into other verticals over the last 10 years. For instance, in 2021, about $2.8 billion of its $53.8 billion in revenue came from energy generation and storage.

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This article was published as a part of Visual Capitalist's Creator Program, which features data-driven visuals from some of our favorite Creators around the world.

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Technology

Visualizing Internet Usage by Global Region

In this infographic, we map out internet usage by global region based on the latest data from the World Bank.

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Map showing internet usage by region.

Visualizing Internet Usage by Global Region

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.

Digital technologies have become an integral part of our daily lives, transforming communications, business, health, education, and more. Yet, billions of people around the world are still offline, and digital advancement has been uneven.

Here, we map internet usage by region based on data from the World Bank’s Digital Progress and Trends Report 2023.

Digitalization Has Been Uneven

According to the World Bank, between 2018 and 2022, the world gained 1.5 billion new internet users.

In 2020 alone, the share of the global population using the internet increased by 6% (500 million people), marking the highest jump in history. India, in particular, has seen high rates of adoption. For example, in 2018, only 20% of Indians used the internet. By 2022, this percentage had grown to more than 50%.

RegionIndividuals using the internet (% of population)
East Asia & Pacific74
Europe & Central Asia87
Latin America & the Caribbean76
Middle East & North Africa77
North America92
South Asia42
Sub-Saharan Africa34

However, the progress of digitalization has been uneven both within and across countries.

In 2022, one-third of the global population remained offline, with parts of Asia and Africa still experiencing very low rates of internet usage. For instance, more than half of businesses in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, and Senegal reportedly lack internet connection.

According to the World Bank’s report, when fast internet becomes available, the probability of an individual being employed increases by up to 13%, and total employment per firm increases by up to 22%. Moreover, firm exports nearly quadruple with the availability of fast internet. Across Africa, 3G coverage has been associated with a reduction in extreme poverty, with reductions of 10% seen in Senegal and 4.3% in Nigeria.

Curious to learn more about the internet? Check out this animated chart that shows the most popular web browsers since 1994.

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