The 25 Most Profitable Companies in the World

See who's turning an impressive profit.

By Jordan Rosenfeld Mar 18, 2021 Start a Business

Turning a profit is an admirable thing for any company, but some companies do it significantly better than others. According to Fortune’s Global 500 list, the world’s 500 largest companies earned a total of $33.3 trillion in revenues and $2.1 trillion in profits in 2019.

Read: 25 Companies Making the Most Money From Coronavirus

For this piece, GOBankingRates looked at the Fortune 500 companies for 2020 and found the 25 companies with the most total profits, as well as revenues, assets, employees and years on the Global 500 list. Read on to see who’s making bank.

Last updated: March 18, 2021

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25. Johnson & Johnson

Revenues: $82,059,000,000
Profits: $15,119,000,000
Assets: $157,728,000,000
Employees: 132,200
Years on Global 500 List: 20
Fortune 500 2020 rank: 104

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24. Volkswagen

Revenues: $282,760,000,000
Profits: $15,542,000,000
Assets: $547,810,000,000
Employees: 671,205
Years on Global 500 List: 26
Fortune 500 2020 rank: 7

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23. Royal Dutch Shell

Revenues: $352,106,000,000
Profits: $15,842,000,000
Assets: $404,336,000,000
Employees: 83,000
Years on Global 500 List: 26
Fortune 500 2020 rank: 5

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22. Pfizer

Revenues: $51,750,000,000
Profits: $16,273,000,000
Assets: $167,489,000,000
Employees: 88,300
Years on Global 500 List: 26
Fortune 500 2020 rank: 215

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21. Samsung Electronics

Revenues: $197,705,000,000
Profits: $18,453,300,000
Assets: $304,907,500,000
Employees: 287,439
Years on Global 500 List: 26
Fortune 500 2020 rank: 19

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20. Facebook

Revenues: $70,697,000,000
Profits: $18,485,000,000
Assets: $133,376,000,000
Employees: 44,942
Years on Global 500 List: 4
Fortune 500 2020 rank: 144

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19. Gazprom

Revenues: $118,009,000,000
Profits: $18,593,000,000
Assets: $352,397,700,000
Employees: 473,800
Years on Global 500 List: 24
Fortune 500 2020 rank: 55

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18. Toyota Motor

Revenues: $275,288,000,000
Profits: $19,096,200,000
Assets: $487,465,900,000
Employees: 359,542
Years on Global 500 List: 26
Fortune 500 2020 rank: 10

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17. Verizon Communications

Revenues: $131,868,000,000
Profits: $19,265,000,000
Assets: $291,727,000,000
Employees: 135,000
Years on Global 500 List: 26
Fortune 500 2020 rank: 44

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16. Citigroup

Revenues: $103,449,000,000
Profits: $19,401,000,000
Assets: $1,951,158,000,000
Employees: 200,000
Years on Global 500 List: 26
Fortune 500 2020 rank: 70

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15. Wells Fargo

Revenues: $103,915,000,000
Profits: $19,549,000,000
Assets: $1,927,555,000,000
Employees: 259,800
Years on Global 500 List: 23
Fortune 500 2020 rank: 69

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14. Intel

Revenues: $71,965,000,000
Profits: $21,048,000,000
Assets: $136,524,000,000
Employees: 110,800
Years on Global 500 List: 26
Fortune 500 2020 rank: 138

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13. Alibaba Group Holding

Revenues: $73,166,000,000
Profits: $21,450,000,000
Assets: $185,026,500,000
Employees: 117,600
Years on Global 500 List: 4
Fortune 500 2020 rank: 132

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12. Ping An Insurance

Revenues: $184,280,000,000
Profits: $21,626,700,000
Assets: $1,180,488,500,000
Employees: 372,194
Years on Global 500 List: 11
Fortune 500 2020 rank: 21

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11. Bank of China

Revenues: $135,091,000,000
Profits: $27,126,900,000
Assets: $3,268,837,900,000
Employees: 309,384
Years on Global 500 List: 26
Fortune 500 2020 rank: 43

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10. Bank of America

Revenues: $113,589,000,000
Profits: $27,430,000,000
Assets: $2,434,079,000,000
Employees: 208,131
Years on Global 500 List: 26
Fortune 500 2020 rank: 58

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9. Agricultural Bank of China

Revenues: $147,313,000,000
Profits: $30,701,200,000
Assets: $3,571,541,700,000
Employees: 467,631
Years on Global 500 List: 21
Fortune 500 2020 rank: 35

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8. Alphabet

Revenues: $161,857,000,000
Profits: $34,343,000,000
Assets: $275,909,000,000
Employees: 118,899
Years on Global 500 List: 12
Fortune 500 2020 rank: 29

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7. JP Morgan Chase

Revenues: $142,422,000,000
Profits: $36,431,000,000
Assets: $2,687,379,000,000
Employees: 256,981
Years on Global 500 List: 26
Fortune 500 2020 rank: 38

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6. China Construction Bank

Revenues: $158,884,000,000
Profits: $38,609,700,000
Assets: $3,651,644,600,000
Employees: 370,1691
Years on Global 500 List: 21
Fortune 500 2020 rank: 30

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5. Microsoft

Revenues: $125,843,000,000
Profits: $39,240,000,000
Assets: $286,556,000,000
Employees: 144,000
Years on Global 500 List: 23
Fortune 500 2020 rank: 47

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4. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China

Revenues: $177,069,000,000
Profits: $45,194,500,000
Assets: $4,322,528,400,000
Employees: 445,106
Years on Global 500 List: 22
Fortune 500 2020 rank: 24

Read: Why It’s Never a Bad Idea To Invest In Apple and These Other Companies

3. Apple

Revenues: $260,174,000,000
Profits: $55,256,000,000
Assets: $338,516,000,000
Employees: 137,000
Years on Global 500 List: 18
Fortune 500 2020 rank: 12

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2. Berkshire Hathaway

Revenues: $254,616,000,000
Profits: $81,417,000,000
Assets: $817,729,000,000
Employees: 391,500
Years on Global 500 List: 24
Fortune 500 2020 rank: 14

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1. Saudi Aramco

Revenues: $329,784,000,000
Profits: $88,210,900,000
Assets: $398,348,600,000
Employees: 79,000
Years on Global 500 List: 2
Fortune 500 2020 rank: 6

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Photo Disclaimer: Please note photos are for representational purposes only.

Methodology: For this piece, GOBankingRates looked at the Fortune 500 companies for 2020 and found the 25 companies with the most (1) total profits. For the 25 most profitable companies GOBankingRates also found: (2) total revenues; (3) total assets; (4) total employees; (5) years on the global 500 list; and (6) the companies current rank on the 2020 list. All data was collected and is up to date as of March 2, 2021.

About the Author

Jordan Rosenfeld

Jordan Rosenfeld is a freelance writer and author of nine books. She holds a B.A. from Sonoma State University and an MFA from Bennington College. Her articles and essays about finances and other topics has appeared in a wide range of publications and clients, including The Atlantic, The Billfold, Good Magazine, GoBanking Rates, Daily Worth, Quartz, Medical Economics, The New York Times, Ozy, Paypal, The Washington Post and for numerous business clients. As someone who had to learn many of her lessons about money the hard way, she enjoys writing about personal finance to empower and educate people on how to make the most of what they have and live a better quality of life.