Apple Tops 'World's Most Admired Company' List for 14th Consecutive Year

Apple continues to dominate Fortune's list of the "World's Most Admired Companies" for 2021, taking the top spot for the 14th consecutive year.

aapl logo banner

Technology and entertainment held the top four rankings, with Amazon claiming second place, followed by Microsoft in third, and Disney in fourth.

After a year in which humanity leaned more heavily than ever on tech giants—to connect, entertain, and even feed us in a time of isolation — it's fitting that Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft hold the top three spots in Fortune's ranking of corporate reputation. Apple, the premier personal-tech provider, tops the roster for the 14th year in a row, based on our poll of some 3,800 corporate executives, directors, and analysts.

Elsewhere, Netflix returned to the top ten, placing ninth, and Walmart and Target earned their highest rankings since 2011 and 2008. Nvidia and PayPal also earned a place in the top 50 for the first time.

The 50 companies selected for the 2021 Fortune rankings were narrowed down from an initial list of the 1,000 largest companies in the U.S. ranked by revenue and 500 non-U.S. companies from Fortune's Global 500 database with revenues of $10 billion or more.

Management consulting firm Korn Ferry then asked executives, directors, and analysts to rate companies in their own industry based on nine criteria, from investment value and quality of management and products to social responsibility and ability to attract talent, and select the ten companies they admired most.

While the result is not indicative of financial performance, the list does provide an interesting insight into how some of the world's best-known companies are perceived relative to each other.

Tag: Fortune

Popular Stories

Generic iOS 19 Feature Mock Light

iOS 19 Leak Reveals All-New Design

Friday January 17, 2025 2:42 pm PST by
iOS 19 is still around six months away from being announced, but a new leak has allegedly revealed a completely redesigned Camera app. Based on footage it obtained, YouTube channel Front Page Tech shared a video showing what the new Camera app will apparently look like, with the key change being translucent menus for camera controls. Overall, the design of these menus looks similar to...
2024 App Store Awards

Apple Explains Why It Removed TikTok From the App Store in the U.S.

Sunday January 19, 2025 6:58 am PST by
Apple on late Saturday removed TikTok from the App Store in the U.S., and it has now explained why it was required to take this action. Last year, the U.S. passed a law that required Chinese company ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok due to potential national security risks, or else the platform would be banned. That law went into effect today, and companies like Apple and Google...
2024 iPhone Boxes Feature

Apple Changes Trade-In Values for iPhones, iPads, Macs, and More

Thursday January 16, 2025 6:45 am PST by
Apple today adjusted estimated trade-in values for select iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models in the U.S., according to its website. Some values increased, while others decreased. The changes were not too significant, with most values rising or dropping by $5 to $50. We have outlined some examples below: Device New Value Old Value iPhone 15 Pro Max Up to $630 U ...
Generic iOS 18

Everything New in iOS 18.3 Beta 3

Thursday January 16, 2025 12:39 pm PST by
Apple provided the third beta of iOS 18.3 to developers today, and while the betas have so far been light on new features, the third beta makes some major changes to Notification Summaries and also tweaks a few other features. Notification Summary Changes Apple made multiple changes to Notification Summaries in response to complaints about inaccurate summaries of news headlines. For...
iOS 19 Roundup Feature

iOS 19 Rumored to Be Compatible With These iPhones

Saturday January 18, 2025 10:28 am PST by
iOS 19 will not drop support for any iPhone models, according to French website iPhoneSoft.fr. The report cited a source who said iOS 19 will be compatible with any iPhone that can run iOS 18, which would mean the following models: iPhone 16 iPhone 16 Plus iPhone 16 Pro iPhone 16 Pro Max iPhone 15 iPhone 15 Plus iPhone 15 Pro iPhone 15 Pro Max iPhone 14 iPhon...
airtag 4 pack blue

AirTag 2 Launching This Year With These 3 New Features

Sunday January 19, 2025 8:11 am PST by
After a four-year wait, a new AirTag is finally expected to launch in 2025. Below, we recap rumored upgrades for the accessory. A few months ago, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple was aiming to release the AirTag 2 around the middle of 2025. While he did not offer a more specific timeframe, that means the AirTag 2 could be announced by the end of June. The original AirTag was announced...
iPad Pro vs iPhone 17 Air Feature

Here's How Thin the iPhone 17 Air Might Be

Friday January 17, 2025 3:38 pm PST by
For the last several months, we've been hearing rumors about a redesigned version of the iPhone 17 that Apple might call the iPhone 17 "Air," or something along those lines. It's going to replace the iPhone 17 Plus as Apple's fourth iPhone option, and it will be offered alongside the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. We know the iPhone 17 Air is going to be super slim, but...
apple power beats pro 2

Powerbeats Pro 2 Coming Soon: Apple to Announce Them 'Imminently'

Sunday January 19, 2025 8:25 am PST by
In September, Apple said that it would be launching Powerbeats Pro 2 in 2025, and it appears the wireless earbuds are coming very soon. Powerbeats Pro 2 images found in iOS 18 code In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the Powerbeats Pro 2 are "due imminently." In addition to Apple filing the Powerbeats Pro 2 in regulatory databases last month, Gurman said Apple is...

Top Rated Comments

mi7chy Avatar
52 months ago
My top 8:

#1 AMD
#2 Microsoft
#3 Google
#4 Tesla/Starlink/SpaceX
#5 Nvidia
#6 Lenovo
#7 TSMC
#8 Samsung Semiconductor
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
roland.g Avatar
52 months ago

For those looking for Tesla, it's at 294.
Or at $803 depending on how you look at it.

Hey - woohoo, a front page article that isn't a 'deal' and isn't PRSI. :eek:
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ArtOfWarfare Avatar
52 months ago

No surprise here! Apple is still setting the trend.

✅Multitouch
✅Touch ID
✅Removing DVD-drives in Macbook Airs
✅FaceID
✅Removal headphone jack
✅Wireless headphones
✅Tablets
✅Removal charger

and the list goes on.
Apple did Multitouch 14 years ago, Touch ID 8 years ago, removed DVD drives from the Air 13 years ago, FaceID and wireless headphones were both done a decade before Apple added it, the iPad is 11 years old, and Apple removed the charger on the Apple Watch 6 years ago.

So Apple's newest innovation on your list is 6 years old. That in no way justifies Apple being at the top of the list today. Also of note - almost that entire list was done by Steve Jobs, not Tim Cook.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kennyt72 Avatar
52 months ago

For those looking for Tesla, it's ranked at 294th.
From 52nd place they're just placed in alphabetical order so any "rank" past 51st is meaningless.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Edsel Avatar
52 months ago
I'm old. I remember when IBM was on top, and Apple Computer was just a joke. One day, you "young'uns" will remember Apple, Inc as I do of IBM. Corporate culture is little different from the culture of the World Wrestling Federation.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Ken88 Avatar
52 months ago
SURPRISE!?? not really..wonder which company was #1 15 years ago. Sorry I didn’t read the whole article. Meanwhile Mark Zukerberg’s Facebook rank #1 overrated..it’s true. Hey Mark if you’re read this congratulations you finally BEAT Apple at something?
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)