Apple Tops Fortune's List of World's Most Admired Companies for 11th Consecutive Year

aapl fortuneApple has topped Fortune's annual list of the World's Most Admired Companies for the 11th consecutive year.

Apple finished ahead of Amazon, the runner-up for a second consecutive year, while Google's parent Alphabet, Warren Buffett's holding company Berkshire Hathaway, and coffee chain Starbucks rounded off the top five.

Apple topped the list in every category, such as innovation, quality of management, social responsibility, use of corporate assets, financial soundness, quality of products and services, and global competitiveness.

The rankings were determined by some 3,900 executives, directors, and securities analysts who selected the 10 companies they admired most. More on Fortune's methodology:

As we have in the past, Fortune collaborated with our partner Korn Ferry on this survey of corporate reputations. We began with a universe of about 1,500 candidates: the 1,000 largest U.S. companies ranked by revenue, along with non-U.S. companies in Fortune's Global 500 database that have revenues of $10 billion or more. We then winnowed the assortment to the highest-revenue companies in each industry, a total of 680 in 29 countries. The top-rated companies were picked from that pool of 680; the executives who voted work at the companies in that group.

The complete list includes 50 companies, ranging from other tech giants like Microsoft at 7th and Facebook at 12th to iconic brands like Coca-Cola at 18th and McDonald's at 37th. On the upside, both Adidas and Lockheed Martin made it onto the list for the first time. Meanwhile, GE plummeted from 7th to 30th.

In terms of technology companies, Apple ranked sixth in Thomson Reuters' first-ever list of the Top 100 Global Technology Leaders.

Tag: Fortune

Popular Stories

iOS 26

15 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.2

Friday December 5, 2025 9:40 am PST by
Apple is about to release iOS 26.2, the second major point update for iPhones since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least 15 notable changes and improvements worth checking out. We've rounded them up below. Apple is expected to roll out iOS 26.2 to compatible devices sometime between December 8 and December 16. When the update drops, you can check Apple's servers for the ...
Intel Inside iPhone Feature

Apple's Return to Intel Rumored to Extend to iPhone

Friday December 5, 2025 10:08 am PST by
Intel is expected to begin supplying some Mac and iPad chips in a few years, and the latest rumor claims the partnership might extend to the iPhone. In a research note with investment firm GF Securities this week, obtained by MacRumors, analyst Jeff Pu said he and his colleagues "now expect" Intel to reach a supply deal with Apple for at least some non-pro iPhone chips starting in 2028....
iPhone 14 Pro Dynamic Island

iPhone 18 Pro Leak Adds New Evidence for Under-Display Face ID

Monday December 8, 2025 4:54 am PST by
Apple is actively testing under-screen Face ID for next year's iPhone 18 Pro models using a special "spliced micro-transparent glass" window built into the display, claims a Chinese leaker. According to "Smart Pikachu," a Weibo account that has previously shared accurate supply-chain details on Chinese Android hardware, Apple is testing the special glass as a way to let the TrueDepth...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds Second iOS 26.2 Release Candidate to Developers and Public Beta Testers

Monday December 8, 2025 10:18 am PST by
Apple today seeded the second release candidate version of iOS 26.2 to developers and public beta testers, with the software coming one week after Apple seeded the first RC. The release candidate represents the final version iOS 26.2 that will be provided to the public if no further bugs are found. Registered developers and public beta testers can download the betas from the Settings app on...
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

10 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Monday December 1, 2025 2:40 am PST by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
Johny Srouji

Apple Chip Chief Johny Srouji Could Be Next to Go as Exodus Continues

Sunday December 7, 2025 10:41 am PST by
Apple's senior vice president of hardware technologies Johny Srouji could be the next leading executive to leave the company amid an alarming exodus of leading employees, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. Srouji apparently recently told CEO Tim Cook that he is "seriously considering leaving" in the near future. He intends to join another company if he departs. Srouji leads Apple's chip design ...
Johny Srouji

Apple's Chipmaking Chief Johny Srouji Responds to Report About Him Potentially Leaving

Monday December 8, 2025 9:23 am PST by
Apple's chipmaking chief Johny Srouji has reportedly indicated that he plans to continue working for the company for the foreseeable future. "I love my team, and I love my job at Apple, and I don't plan on leaving anytime soon," said Srouji, in a memo obtained by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Here is Srouji's full memo, as shared by Bloomberg:I know you've been reading all kind of rumors and...
top stories 2025 12 04a

Top Stories: iOS 26.2 Coming Soon, Apple Execs Depart, and More

Saturday December 6, 2025 6:00 am PST by
You'd expect things to be starting to wind down for the holidays by now, but that doesn't seem to be the case yet in the world of Apple news, with Apple just about ready to release iOS 26.2 and other operating system updates to the public. There was also a flurry of news this week about Apple executive departures, some expected and some not so expected, while we also learned that Apple and...
maxresdefault

iPhone Fold: Launch, Pricing, and What to Expect From Apple's Foldable

Monday December 1, 2025 3:00 am PST by
Apple is expected to launch a new foldable iPhone next year, based on multiple rumors and credible sources. The long-awaited device has been rumored for years now, but signs increasingly suggest that 2026 could indeed be the year that Apple releases its first foldable device. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Below, we've collated an updated set of key details that ...
Apple Fitness Plus expansion hero

Apple Fitness+ Coming to 28 New Regions With Digital Voice Dubbing

Monday December 8, 2025 6:19 am PST by
Apple today announced that Fitness+ is expanding to 28 new markets on December 15 in the service's largest international rollout since launch, accompanied by new language dubbing and a K-Pop music genre. Apple Fitness+ will become available in Chile, Hong Kong, India, the Netherlands, Singapore, Taiwan, and additional regions on December 15, with Japan scheduled to follow early next year....

Top Rated Comments

eveluvsrainbows Avatar
103 months ago
And maybe for the last time.
I highly doubt that.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Jsameds Avatar
103 months ago
I'd admire them a lot more if they narrowed their profit margin, made their Macs upgradeable, bundled premium accessories with their premium products and used decent batteries in their phones.

But unfortunately it's not about admiration, it's about $$$$$$
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Lone Deranger Avatar
103 months ago
Admired by shareholders.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DEMinSoCAL Avatar
103 months ago
"3,900 executives, directors, and securities analysts"...that explains it. They wish their company could make money hand-over-fist by selling mediocre product at profit margins most companies can only dream of.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BernyMac Avatar
103 months ago


Whew! I thought this is was one of those Tide Pod challenges that idiots are doing nowadays

Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Billsofat Avatar
103 months ago
Admired for what? Their throttling? Or their broken iOS 11 or root password bugs in Sierra? Or is it the $500 back glass repair?
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)