Markets
Ranked: The Most Valuable Brands in the World
Ranking The World’s Most Valuable Brands
Due to its intangible nature, the power of a brand can be difficult to translate to a balance sheet. That said, a brand that truly connects with consumers and stands the test of time can deliver immense financial value.
Today’s graphic pulls data from the 2020 edition of Brand Finance’s annual Global 500 report, which ranks the world’s top brands by value using a multi-dimensional formula.
By quantifying the true value of a brand, investors and key decision makers can identify value that extends beyond quarterly earnings reports.
How much are brands really worth?
A Closer Look at the Leaderboard
With 18% growth in the last year resulting in an eye-watering brand value of $220 billion, Amazon is a clear winner as the world’s most valuable brand—towering over Google and Apple’s brand valuations. As the largest online marketplace on the planet, Amazon relies on innovative technologies and investments in fast-growing sectors, such as healthcare, to create a diverse retail ecosystem.
Although tech companies command five of the top 10 spots in the ranking, brands from more traditional industries are hot on their tails.
Here are the top 100 most valuable brands according to the report:
Ranking | Brand | 2020 Brand Value | YoY % Change | Country | Sector |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
#1 | Amazon | $220B | 17.5% | United States | Retail |
#2 | $160B | 11.9% | United States | Tech | |
#3 | Apple | $140B | -8.5% | United States | Tech |
#4 | Microsoft | $117B | -2.1% | United States | Tech |
#5 | Samsung | $94B | 3.5% | South Korea | Tech |
#6 | ICBC | $80B | 1.2% | China | Banking |
#7 | $79B | -4.1% | United States | Media | |
#8 | Walmart | $77B | 14.2% | United States | Retail |
#9 | Ping An | $69B | 19.8% | China | Insurance |
#10 | Huawei | $65B | 4.5% | China | Tech |
#11 | Mercedes-Benz | $65B | 7.8% | Germany | Automobiles |
#12 | Verizon | $63B | -10.5% | United States | Telecoms |
#13 | China Construction Bank | $62B | -10.2% | China | Banking |
#14 | AT&T | $59B | -32% | United States | Telecoms |
#15 | Toyota | $58B | 11.1% | Japan | Automobiles |
#16 | State Grid | $57B | 11.1% | China | Utilities |
#17 | Disney | $56B | 22.7% | United States | Media |
#18 | Agricultural Bank of China | $55B | -0.7% | China | Banking |
#19 | $54B | 6.8% | China | Media | |
#20 | Bank of China | $51B | -0.7% | China | Banking |
#21 | The Home Depot | $50B | 7.3% | United States | Retail |
#22 | China Mobile | $49B | -11.9% | China | Telecoms |
#23 | Shell | $47B | 12.4% | Netherlands | Oil & Gas |
#24 | Saudi Aramco | $47B | N/A | Saudi Arabia | Oil & Gas |
#25 | Volkswagen | $45B | 7.6% | Germany | Automobiles |
#26 | YouTube | $44B | 17.5% | United States | Media |
#27 | Tencent QQ | $44B | -11.3% | China | Media |
#28 | Starbucks | $41B | 4.5% | United States | Restaurants |
#29 | Wells Fargo | $41B | 2.3% | United States | Banking |
#30 | BMW | $40B | 0.0% | Germany | Automobiles |
#31 | Deutsche Telekom | $40B | -13.6% | Germany | Telecoms |
#32 | Moutai | $39B | 29.1% | Germany | Spirits |
#33 | PetroChina | $38B | 3.3% | China | Oil & Gas |
#34 | Coca-Cola | $38B | 4.8% | United States | Soft Drinks |
#35 | Mitsubishi Group | $38B | 42.8% | Japan | Automobiles |
#36 | McDonald’s | $37B | 18.9% | United States | Restaurants |
#37 | Taobao | $37B | -20.7 | China | Retail |
#38 | NTT Group | $36B | -12.8% | Japan | Telecoms |
#39 | Bank of America | $35B | -3.6% | United States | Banking |
#40 | Nike | $35B | 7.3% | United States | Apparel |
#41 | Porsche | $33B | 15.6% | Germany | Automobiles |
#42 | Sinopec | $33B | 14.7% | China | Oil & Gas |
#43 | IBM | $33B | 1.5% | United States | Tech |
#44 | CITI | $33B | -9% | United States | Banking |
#45 | Honda | $33B | 28.6% | Japan | Automobiles |
#46 | Marlboro | $33B | -2.7% | United States | Tobacco |
#47 | Deloitte | $32B | 9.6% | United States | Commercial Services |
#48 | Chase | $31B | -13.8% | United States | Banking |
#49 | Tmall | $31B | -15.9% | China | Retail |
#50 | UPS | $29B | 0.6% | United States | Logistics |
#51 | American Express | $29B | 6.2% | United States | Commercial Services |
#52 | Xfinity | $29B | 6.4% | United States | Telecoms |
#53 | United Healthcare | $28B | -7.4% | United States | Healthcare |
#54 | Sumitomo Group | $28B | 4.5% | Japan | Mining, Iron & Steel |
#55 | Intel | $27B | -5.5% | United States | Tech |
#56 | VISA | $27B | -3% | United States | Commercial Services |
#57 | $27B | 58% | United States | Media | |
#58 | China Life | $25B | -4.4% | China | Insurance |
#59 | Accenture | $25B | -3.8% | United States | IT Services |
#60 | Allianz | $25B | 7.5% | Germany | Insurance |
#61 | CSCEC | $25B | -3.3% | China | Engineering & Construction |
#62 | PWC | $25B | -0.3% | United States | Commercial Services |
#63 | Lowe’s | $25B | 3.4% | United States | Retail |
#64 | Mitsui | $24B | 15.8% | Japan | Mining, Iron & Steel |
#65 | General Electric | $24B | -14.4% | United States | Engineering & Construction |
#66 | EY | $24B | 2.1% | United Kingdom | Commercial Services |
#67 | Oracle | $24B | -6.7% | United States | Tech |
#68 | Cisco | $24B | 7.1% | United States | Tech |
#69 | BP | $23B | 2.6% | United Kingdom | Oil & Gas |
#70 | CVS | $23B | 9.1% | United Kingdom | Retail |
#71 | Total | $23B | 8.1% | France | Oil & Gas |
#72 | FedEx | $23B | -5.1% | United States | Logistics |
#73 | Netflix | $23B | 8.4% | United States | Media |
#74 | China Merchants Bank | $23B | 1.8% | China | Banking |
#75 | JP Morgan | $23B | 15.3% | United States | Banking |
#76 | Boeing | $23B | -29% | United States | Aerospace & Defence |
#77 | Costco | $23B | 32.1% | United States | Retail |
#78 | SK Group | $22B | -17.5% | South Korea | Telecoms |
#79 | Wuliangye | $21B | 30.1% | China | Spirits |
#80 | Evergrande | $21B | 0.5% | China | Real Estate |
#81 | Nestle | $21B | 3.4% | Switzerland | Food |
#82 | Hyundai Group | $21B | -2.8% | South Korea | Automobiles |
#83 | China Telecom | $21B | -2.8% | China | Telecoms |
#84 | Siemens | $21B | -7.2% | Germany | Engineering & Construction |
#85 | TATA Group | $21B | 2.3% | India | Engineering & Construction |
#86 | Mastercard | $21B | 8.4% | United States | Commercial Services |
#87 | Bosch | $20B | -14.6% | Germany | Engineering & Construction |
#88 | IKEA | $19B | -9.4% | Sweden | Retail |
#89 | HSBC | $19B | -3.6% | United Kingdom | Banking |
#90 | Spectrum | $19B | 25% | United States | Telecoms |
#91 | Vodafone | $19B | -10.3% | United Kingdom | Telecoms |
#92 | Pepsi | $19B | 2.2% | United States | Soft Drinks |
#93 | Alibaba | $19B | 28.8% | China | Retail |
#94 | Ford | $18B | -1.4% | United States | Automobiles |
#95 | AIA | $18B | 17.3% | China | Insurance |
#96 | Orange | $18B | -13.7% | France | Telecoms |
#97 | Nissan | $18B | -4.5% | Japan | Automobiles |
#98 | Chevron | $18B | 4.7% | United States | Oil & Gas |
#99 | GUCCI | $18B | 20.2% | Italy | Apparel |
#100 | Dell Technologies | $18B | -22.9% | United States | Tech |
American retail giant Walmart enters 2020’s top 10 ranking with an impressive brand value increase of 14% to $77.5 billion. The retailer’s recent success could be partially attributed to its growing strategic partnership with Microsoft—which currently sits in sixth place. By tapping into Microsoft’s cloud services, Walmart can now provide a digital first retail experience for its customers.
Another brand that has experienced remarkable growth is China’s leading insurance company, Ping An. With 19.8% growth, resulting in a brand value of $69 billion, the financial conglomerate’s aggressive focus on fintech R&D has garnered the company 200 million retail customers and 500 million internet users—making it one of the largest financial services companies in the world.
While the majority of the world’s most valuable brands hail from the U.S. or China, which brands lead by region?
Most Valuable Brands by Region
Not surprisingly, Amazon leads as the most valuable B2C brand across the Americas, with the exception of Latin America. Beer brand Corona, was crowned as the leader in this region, boasting a brand value of $8.1 billion.
In Europe, German companies outperformed other countries, with automotive brand Mercedes-Benz holding the title for the most valuable B2C brand for that continent—despite China being its biggest market.
On the other side of the world, Samsung reigns as Asia’s most valuable B2C brand. The company owns 54% of the nascent 5G market globally, having shipped 6.7 million 5G phones in the last year alone.
A Brand Eat Brand World
Whether brands are regional or global leaders, they still face the threat of being knocked of their perch by brands experiencing significant growth.
Climbing to the Top
With an increase of 65% to $12.4 billion, Tesla is officially the fastest-growing brand in the world. Despite concerns over not being able to keep up with demand, the electric car company is expected to exceed 500,000 vehicle deliveries in 2020. Having recently posted over $7 billion of revenue in the fourth quarter of 2019, the success of Tesla’s innovative models is sure to rattle the automotive brands in the ranking.
However, not everything comes down to innovation. European retailers Lidl and Aldi have seen growth of 40% and 37% respectively, and are only getting started.
After disrupting Europe’s entire supermarket industry by offering quality products at significantly lower prices, the chains now have their sights set on the U.S. market, with Aldi expected to surpass Kroger in sales.
Despite the unprecedented disruption caused by e-commerce, the popular assertion that entering digital operations brings instant success while bricks and mortar stores are doomed for extinction is being proved wrong
—David Haigh, CEO Brand Finance
In contrast, there are also well established brands that have struggled to retain brand value.
Racing to the Bottom
Chinese search engine Baidu—also known as the Google of China—recorded the largest drop in brand value, decreasing by 54% to $8.9 billion. The brand has struggled with a poor reputation and intensifying market competition. As a result, the brand’s revenues and subsequently its brand value were heavily impacted.
Boeing is a prime example of the unpredictability of brand value. As a company that once imbued trust and excellent safety standards, the brand’s value has dropped by 29% due to the recent reports of accidents that have tarnished its reputation.
The True Power of Brand
Boeing’s recent hardships reflect the volatile nature of brand value. While 244 brands in the entire ranking have increased their brand value year-over-year, another 212 have taken a hit.
Part of a brand’s purpose is to manage reputation, retain loyal customers, and generate awareness. Given that a brand is the sum of its parts, the ranking proves that an issue with any of these things could trigger a chain reaction, negatively impacting a brand’s bottom line.
So is it worth companies investing in their brand? All signs point to yes, for now.
Markets
Charted: Tesla’s Unrivaled Profit Margins
This infographic compares Tesla’s impressive profit margins to various Western and Chinese competitors.

Chart: Tesla’s Unrivaled Profit Margins
In January this year, Tesla made the surprising announcement that it would be cutting prices on its vehicles by as much as 20%.
While price cuts are not new in the automotive world, they are for Tesla. The company, which historically has been unable to keep up with demand, has seen its order backlog shrink from 476,000 units in July 2022, to 74,000 in December 2022.
This has been attributed to Tesla’s robust production growth, which saw 2022 production increase 41% over 2021 (from 930,422 to 1,313,851 units).
With the days of “endless” demand seemingly over, Tesla is going on the offensive by reducing its prices—a move that puts pressure on competitors, but has also angered existing owners.
Cranking up the Heat
Tesla’s price cuts are an attempt to protect its market share, but they’re not exactly the desperation move some media outlets have claimed them to be.
Recent data compiled by Reuters shows that Tesla’s margins are significantly higher than those of its rivals, both in terms of gross and net profit. Our graphic only illustrates the net figures, but gross profits are also included in the table below.
Company | Gross profit per car | Net profit per car |
---|---|---|
🇺🇸 Tesla | $15,653 | $9,574 |
🇺🇸 GM | $3,818 | $2,150 |
🇨🇳 BYD | $5,456 | $1,550 |
🇯🇵 Toyota | $3,925 | $1,197 |
🇩🇪 VW | $6,034 | $973 |
🇰🇷 Hyundai | $5,362 | $927 |
🇺🇸 Ford | $3,115 | -$762 |
🇨🇳 Xpeng | $4,565 | -$11,735 |
🇨🇳 Nio | $8,036 | -$19,141 |
Data from Q3 2022
Price cutting has its drawbacks, but one could argue that the benefits for Tesla are worth it based on this data—especially in a critical market like China.
Tesla has taken the nuclear option to bully the weaker, thin margin players off the table.
– Bill Russo, Automobility
In the case of Chinese EV startups Xpeng and Nio, net profits are non-existent, meaning it’s unlikely they’ll be able to match Tesla’s reductions in price. Both firms have reported year-on-year sales declines in January.
As for Tesla, Chinese media outlets have claimed that the firm received 30,000 orders within three days of its price cut announcement. Note that this hasn’t been officially confirmed by anyone within the company.
Tit for Tat
Ford made headlines recently for announcing its own price cuts on the Mustang Mach-E electric SUV. The model is a direct competitor to Tesla’s best-selling Model Y.
Chevrolet and Hyundai have also adjusted some of their EV prices in recent months, as listed in the following table.
Model | Old Price | New Price | Discount |
---|---|---|---|
Tesla Model Y Long Range | $65,990 | $53,490 | 18.9% |
Chevrolet Bolt EUV 2023 | $33,500 | $27,200 | 18.8% |
Tesla Model Y Performance | $69,990 | $56,990 | 18.6% |
Chevrolet Bolt 2023 | $31,600 | $26,500 | 16.1% |
Tesla Model 3 Performance | $62,990 | $53,990 | 14.3% |
Hyundai Kona Electric 2022 | $37,390 | $34,000 | 9.1% |
Ford Mustang Mach-E GT Extended Range | $69,900 | $64,000 | 8.4% |
Tesla Model 3 Long Range | $46,990 | $43,990 | 6.4% |
Ford Mustang Mach-E Premium AWD | $57,675 | $53,995 | 6.4% |
Ford Mustang Mach-E RWD Standard Range | $46,900 | $46,000 | 1.9% |
Source: Observer (Feb 2023)
Volkswagen is a noteworthy player missing from this table. The company has been gaining ground on Tesla, especially in the European market.
We have a clear pricing strategy and are focusing on reliability. We trust in the strength of our products and brands.
– Oliver Blume, CEO, VW Group
This decision could hamper Volkswagen’s goal of becoming a dominant player in EVs, especially if more automakers join Tesla in cutting prices. For now, Tesla still holds a strong grip on the US market.
Thanks, Elon
Recent Tesla buyers became outraged when the company announced it would be slashing prices on its cars. In China, buyers even staged protests at Tesla stores and delivery centers.
Recent buyers not only missed out on a better price, but their cars have effectively depreciated by the amount of the cut. This is a bitter turn of events, given Musk’s 2019 claims that a Tesla would be an appreciating asset.
I think the most profound thing is that if you buy a Tesla today, I believe you are buying an appreciating asset – not a depreciating asset.
– Elon Musk, CEO, Tesla
These comments were made in reference to Tesla’s full self-driving (FSD) capabilities, which Elon claimed would enable owners to turn their cars into robotaxis.
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