From toothpaste to short video: a snapshot of how the world’s top companies have changed over 20 years
- Tech companies now lead the way despite a swoon towards the end of 2018 on valuation concerns – and Microsoft is on top
- Big Oil and banks still rank among the top companies, providing goods and services people use every day
Remember 1998? It was the year when Titanic swept the Oscars, Britney Spears released her debut single “Baby One More Time”, and people were fiddling with the snake game on their Nokia 5110.
It was also the time when General Electric, Coca-Cola and ExxonMobil were among the most valuable companies in the world, with German reinsurer Hannover Re topping the list.
Fast forward 20 years and market ascendancy has changed dramatically with technology companies leading the way despite a swoon towards the end of 2018 because of valuation concerns amid an escalating US-China trade war. And Microsoft, which made its stock market debut in 1986, is now on top.
While Big Oil and banks still rank among the top companies, providing goods and services people use every day, the biggest names now are Facebook, Apple, Amazon.com, Netflix and Google, collectively known as the FAANGs and companies which all cater to some extent to people’s online consumption habits.
In a sign of the times, Procter & Gamble, which makes consumer essentials from toothpaste to shampoo, has fallen behind social media giant Facebook, whose platform people use to post pictures of their everyday lives, share news and chat.