The World's Most Admired Companies: How They Stack Up

Geopolitical and regulatory rethinks. Empowered employees. Assertive activist investors. The corporate world is filled with forces of change. 

In the latest edition of the World’s Most Admired Companies survey, executives have put a premium on companies being not only ready for change, but also helping to drive it. Among its findings: The 50 firms on this year’s list use scenario planning far more extensively than their peers. The leaders of those firms are far more optimistic about the impact of change, as well as more certain in their workforce’s ability to adapt to disruptions. “There’s a confidence and outward-looking perspective that the admired companies have that others do not,” says Laura Manson-Smith, Korn Ferry’s global leader of organization strategy consulting. 

This confidence around change stems from multiple factors, including the belief that the most admired firms are effectively managed across all levels, says Mark Royal, a senior client partner for Korn Ferry Advisory and a leader of the WMAC study. These companies, especially those at the very top of the list, have reputations for driving change and creating innovative products and services. “If you want to know where a company is going to be, look to the solutions it’s delivering and quality of people delivering those solutions,” Royal says.

Since 1997, Korn Ferry, in collaboration with Fortune, has identified the World’s Most Admired Companies annually, examining how these highly regarded and highly successful firms stand out from their peers. This year, the study’s authors analyzed more than 500 firms across the world and spoke with thousands of senior executives and directors.  

Apple remains the most admired company on the list, with Microsoft, Amazon, Nvidia, and Berkshire Hathaway rounding out the top five. Four of these firms appeared at the top of last year’s list; Nvidia, the semiconductor company whose chips are powering the artificial-intelligence arms race, is making its first appearance in the top five. It ranked #10 last year and #45 two years ago.

The top 50 also includes four companies that didn’t show up on the 2024 list: construction-vehicle manufacturer Caterpillar (#40), business-software firm ServiceNow (#42), microchip manufacturer Taiwan Semiconductor (#45), and pharmaceutical firm Novo Nordisk (#46). Three other firms jumped at least ten spots from their 2024 rankings: investment bank Goldman Sachs (to #18 from #30); pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly (to #21 from #34); and grocer Publix Super Markets (to #39 from #49). 

Korn Ferry ranks a firm according to nine reputational attributes, including its effectiveness in conducting business globally; its ability to attract, develop, and keep talent; its value as a long-term investment; its financial soundness; its innovativeness; its wise use of corporate assets; and its responsibility to the community and environment. 

Notably, several new industry leaders emerged on the 2025 list: Caterpillar in the Construction and Farm Machinery group, Singapore Airlines (#28) in Airlines, and Morgan Stanley (#33) in Megabanks.  

For more information about the World's Most Admired Companies research and to see the 2025 list, click here.

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