Apple Voted ‘World’s Most Admired Company’ for 12th Consecutive Year

Apple Watch Series 4 Credit: Thanes.Op / Shutterstock
Text Size
- +

Toggle Dark Mode

Apple has nabbed the top spot in Fortune’s annual World’s Most Admired Companies list for the 12th year in a row.

The Cupertino tech giant topped every category in the Fortune list this year, including innovation, quality of management, social responsibility, use of corporate assets, financial soundness, quality of products and services, and global competitiveness.

As far as other runners-up, Amazon came in second for the third consecutive year. The retail juggernaut was followed by Berkshire Hathaway, The Walt Disney Company and Starbucks, in that order.

When it came to Apple’s closest competitors in the smartphone and consumer technology spheres, Microsoft, Google parent company Alphabet, and Samsung ranked at number 6, 7 and 50 respectively.

Google parent company Alphabet, notably, dropped from 3rd to 7th over the last year. Facebook plummeted from the 12th position last year to the 44th spot, presumably due to several privacy and data scandals.

It’s worth noting that five of the top 10 companies were from the technology industry, with Netflix moving up to the 8th spot from the 11th last year.

How the Rankings Were Determined

The rankings were voted on by 3,750 “executives, analysts, directors, and experts,” Fortune wrote. Those respondents chose the top 10 companies that they admired the 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,” Fortune said of the criteria. “Anyone could vote for any company in any industry.”

Fortune also asked some of those polled to rank the reputation of the various firm’s chief executives. Of those who responded, 79 said that Apple CEO Tim Cook was underrated, while 183 said he was overrated.

Apple’s Reputation

Interestingly, Apple’s 12th consecutive year as the world’s most admired company (at least according to Fortune’s respondents) comes in the midst of slumping iPhone sales and other financial worries.

It also follows in the wake of various controversies, including Batterygate, and Bendgate #2. Some have even sounded forecasted that the firm’s days as a technology giant are numbered.

And yet it appears that the company’s reputation has remained relatively unfazed through it all. More than that, there are likely a number of reasons why Apple isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Sponsored
Social Sharing