The world’s 100 most valuable brands are worth over 5 trillion dollars, with six brands in Top 10 being American, while Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon are worth more than 30% of total.

The 2024 annual global ranking of brands, released in January by Brand Finance, an international consultancy, sees the U.S. tech giant Apple on the top of the pyramid after a formidable financial year. The iPhone maker took over from last year’s leader Amazon and is currently worth 516.6 billion US dollars. 

The 2023 rankings spotted Apple on the second place at the 297.5-billion-dollar valuation mark, right behind Amazon’s 299.3-billion-dollar valuation. Today, Jeff Bezos’ company is worth 308.9 billion dollars and is only the 4th in the 2024 ranking. 

Microsoft and Google come the second and third, respectively, with valuations of 340.4 billion and 333.4 billion. One year ago, they were the forth (191.6 billion) and third (281.4 billion).

While Apple and Microsoft added 73.6% and 77.7%, respectively, to their brand value within one year, Google grew 18.5% and Amazon just 3.2%.

Here are the ten most valuable brands globally in 2024:

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The full list of 100 most valuable brands in 2024 is here (PDF).

Fast track growers

Yet the biggest jumps arrived with the microchip manufacturer Nvidia (brand value +162.9%), which advanced 87 places, CATL (brand value +29.4%), a Chinese battery maker, which advanced 36 places, and Humana, an American health insurer, which advanced 32 places in the 2024 ranking.

Nvidia’s brand value strengthened as investors rushed to AI stocks and the demand for memory chips skyrocketed.

With a 1-trillion-dollar capitalization in January this year, the company is now worth more than Netflix, Tesla, and Walmart combined.

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Luis Vuitton and Uber have benefitted from fast growth too.

On the losers’ side, it’s worth mentioning Tesla, a leading EV industry manufacturer. Its brand value decreased to 58.3 billion, and the company dropped out of Top 10 since last year. Tesla cars remain flawed and expensive, in spite of Elon Musk’s promises to roll out cheaper ones, while competitors experienced a boost in sales thanks to new and more affordable EVs, for example China’s BYD.

BYD last year was the best-selling electric vehicle in the world.

The fastest growing brands:

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U.S. dominates, again

The U.S. remains through the past four or five decades the home not just of the most valuable brands, but also of an overwhelming majority of brands, counting 51 companies or more than half in the 2024 brands ranking.

The second-highest number of companies on the ranking are in China - 19, with TikTok as its most valuable brand, worth 84.2 billion dollars. Germany’s Deutsche Telekom is the most valuable in Europe; it also beat Verizon as the most valuable telecom brand globally.

In 2024, more than half of the 100 most valuable brands are based in the United States, with a combined value of 3.2 trillion dollars.

Credit: NewsCafe via VisualCapitalist.

How brands are assessed

Brands are recognized to have a significant role in enhancing shareholder value, but determining the precise value of a brand remains a complex task. While investments in a brand can yield returns over many years, the subjective nature of the financial benefits often determine financial regulators to exclude brand assets from balance sheets, the commercial wisdom goes.

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In gauging a brand's value, the focus lies on its contribution to the company's profits. Brand Finance, for instance, scrutinized companies and their subsidiaries, such as Meta, for example, which encompasses platforms like Instagram and WhatsApp.

Founded in 1996, Brand Finance is an independent branded business valuation consultancy. It advises branded organizations, or those with intangible assets, on how to maximize their value through effective management and better strategy. 

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