Apple Tops 'World's Most Admired Company' List for 17th Consecutive Year

Apple's iron-clad grasp on the top spot of Fortune's "World's Most Admired Companies" shows no signs of weakening, with the tech giant finishing ahead of the 300+ pack for the 17th consecutive year.

Apple Logo Spotlight
Apple was placed above Microsoft in second place, followed by Amazon in third. All three companies have rounded out the top three for the fifth year in a row. Notably, Nvidia, whose GPU chips are powering servers for generative AI around the world, soared to its highest-ever ranking at number 10.

Fortune ranks companies through a collection of "key attributes of reputation," such as innovation, quality of management, social responsibility, use of corporate assets, financial soundness, quality of products and services, and global competitiveness. Apple topped the list in every category.

As it has in the past, Fortune collaborated with partner Korn Ferry on its survey of corporate reputations.

To select our 50 All-Stars, Korn Ferry asked 3,720 executives, directors, and securities analysts who had responded to the industry surveys to select the 10 companies they admired most. They chose from a list made up of the companies that ranked in the top 25% in last year’s surveys, plus those that finished in the top 20% of their industry. Anyone could vote for any company in any industry.

To see the full ranking of the World's Most Admired Companies, visit Fortune's website.

Tag: Fortune

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Feature 1

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 8 New Features

Thursday January 9, 2025 5:45 am PST by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. iPhone 17 Pro concept based on rumors Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of January 2025: More aluminum: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models ...
Generic iOS 18

iOS 18.3 Coming Soon: Here's What's New

Monday January 13, 2025 5:33 am PST by
iOS 18.3 is currently in beta for developers and public beta testers. So far, the upcoming iPhone software update is very minor in scope. Below, we outline what is new in iOS 18.3 so far. The only potential new feature coming to iPhones with iOS 18.3 so far is robot vacuum support in the Home app, but this functionality is not yet live. Apple is laying the groundwork for the feature,...
HomePod mini and Apple TV

HomePod Mini 2 and New Apple TV Launch Timeframe Narrowed Down

Sunday January 12, 2025 4:11 pm PST by
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman recently reported that Apple plans to release new HomePod mini and Apple TV models this year, and now he has provided a more precise timeframe. In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said Apple is currently aiming to launch the new HomePod mini and Apple TV models "toward the end of the year." That timeframe suggests the devices will be released at some point...
new magsafe charger

Apple Releases Updated MagSafe Charger Firmware

Tuesday January 14, 2025 11:30 am PST by
Apple today released new firmware designed for the 25W MagSafe Charger that is compatible with the iPhone 12 and later and the latest AirPods and Apple Watch models. The updated firmware is version 2A143, up from the 2A138 firmware that the accessory shipped with. In the Settings app, you'll see a different version number than the internal firmware number. The 2024 MagSafe charger was...
se 4 for 2025

When to Expect the iPhone SE 4 or So-Called 'iPhone 16E' to Launch

Friday January 10, 2025 9:20 am PST by
Apple is widely rumored to be planning a new iPhone SE, and multiple sources lately have commented on the device's launch timing. The latest word comes from Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. In a blog post today, he said the device will be released around the middle of the first half of 2025. In other words, around the quarter mark of 2025. That means the next iPhone SE will likely be ...
AppleEventLogoFeature

Apple Focusing on These Eight New Low-Cost Devices in 2025

Saturday January 11, 2025 1:00 am PST by
Apple's slate of 2025 products look to be dominated by a large number of low-cost and entry-level devices. Here's what to expect. With advancements like Apple Intelligence and all-new in-house chip designs, Apple is reportedly looking to enhance many of its budget-friendly offerings, ensuring they remain competitive in an increasingly crowded market. These updates also indicate a slight...
airpods pro 2 gradient

AirPods Pro 3 Expected This Year: Here's What We Know

Wednesday January 8, 2025 7:05 am PST by
Despite being released over two years ago, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 continue to dominate the wireless earbud market. However, with the AirPods Pro 3 expected to launch sometime in 2025, anyone thinking of buying Apple's premium earbuds may be wondering if the next generation is worth holding out for. Apart from their audio and noise-canceling performance, which are generally regarded as...
General Apps Messages Redux

Phishing Attacks Use This Simple Trick to Defeat iPhone Message Security

Monday January 13, 2025 6:11 am PST by
A new social engineering tactic is being used by cybercriminals to trick iPhone users into disabling iMessage's built-in phishing protection, in a bid to expose them to malicious links and scams, according to BleepingComputer. The scam exploits a security feature in iMessage that automatically disables links from unknown senders. Apple told the outlet that when users reply to these messages...

Top Rated Comments

WarmWinterHat Avatar
13 months ago

This is just embarrassing for a company of this size - we do not need more emojis ?
You need to tell that to Unicode. Apple doesn't decide to make new ones, they are just following Unicode guidelines so iPhone users don't end up with blank squares when another platform uses a new Emoji.

https://home.unicode.org/emoji/about-emoji/
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
neuropsychguy Avatar
13 months ago
This ranking can't be right. Apple is one of the least admired companies, per the comments from some on MacRumors. Those commenters surely know more than the "3,720 executives, directors, and securities analysts" who were surveyed.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
japanime Avatar
13 months ago
Forbes must regard us proles as fools. This has nothing to do with "innovation" or "social responsibility" or any of the other feelgood phrases they attach to this list.

All you need to do is look at the Top 10 and realize that the real, unspoken reason these companies are "most admired" is because they are making the billionaire class more and more money. ?
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
seggy Avatar
13 months ago
The fact that Amazon is third speaks volumes about what kind of techbro definition of Admired it is here
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
yellow8 Avatar
13 months ago
I think it's well-deserved, even though one might always find room for improvement, it's globally ok.
IMHO.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
wanha Avatar
13 months ago

...most admired among "executives, directors, and securities analysts". They probably admire its stock performance first and foremost.
I would imagine they admire not just the results, but also the professionalism and structures that Apple has in place that allow them to do so.

A friend of mine who is in finance and is not a big Apple fan admires the efficient machine Apple has built over the past 20+ years.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)