147: The Magic Number

We love to prestige whore and argue about which bank is best, biggest and brightest. Still, it is pretty tough to gauge with ultimate accuracy who really holds the best hand at the table. Often nebulous factors like quality of life, work environment, implicit influence and transnational score are tough to gauge accurately.

These discussions and debates may soon, however, become moot, as three systems theorists at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology have modeled a map of global economic power. They have weighed, measured and compared coming up with a list of 147 companies that rule the world. Not surprisingly, four big Wall Street names find themselves in the top ten, though I would be willing to bet that few if any of you could guess the four before reading the list.

Let's have an honor coded competition today and see who can guess best.

Jot down your top ten before clicking on the link and let me know how you did.

In perfect honesty I must admit that I only got two right.

Let the guessing begin...

15 Comments
 

My guesses were: 1.Exxon 2. Walmart 3. General Electric 4. JP Morgan 5. Google 6. IBM 7. Subway :)) 8. Caterpillar 9. HSBC 10. China Petroleum

BUT as i realized the article really doesn't talk about the companies that ACTUALLY OWN (control) any assets, which makes this whole survey completely useless. All it tells me is how important the financial institutions are to our system.

Screw the occupiers!

Do what you want not what you can!
 
ke18sbthis post is misleading, it leads on to think the article is about companies that have control of the world, ie oil companies, when its really about just who literally own equity.

Not even who owns the equity...it includes custodians....which move and hold trillions of dollars, but have no relation to ownership whatsoever.

It's a stupid survey meant to misguide people as if people weren't misguided enough already!!!

Do what you want not what you can!
 

You guys are restricting your choices too much to financial services firms. You should probably consider IT/security providers (IBM, Cisco, Oracle and several in Japan), big pharmaceuticals (GSK, Pfizer, Merck, Sanofi, etc.), News/Media (Walt Disney, Viacom, BskyB, etc.), Commodity/shipping (Glencore, Trafigura, etc.) and obviously some of the ones already mentioned in oil/gas, conglomerates (including Koch industries), and financial services.

 
KhalilYou guys are restricting your choices too much to financial services firms. You should probably consider IT/security providers (IBM, Cisco, Oracle and several in Japan), big pharmaceuticals (GSK, Pfizer, Merck, Sanofi, etc.), News/Media (Walt Disney, Viacom, BskyB, etc.), Commodity/shipping (Glencore, Trafigura, etc.) and obviously some of the ones already mentioned in oil/gas, conglomerates (including Koch industries), and financial services.

lol

 
KhalilYou guys are restricting your choices too much to financial services firms. You should probably consider IT/security providers (IBM, Cisco, Oracle and several in Japan), big pharmaceuticals (GSK, Pfizer, Merck, Sanofi, etc.), News/Media (Walt Disney, Viacom, BskyB, etc.), Commodity/shipping (Glencore, Trafigura, etc.) and obviously some of the ones already mentioned in oil/gas, conglomerates (including Koch industries), and financial services.
lol
-MBP
 

Expedita atque quos ipsam doloremque ipsum. Qui ratione consequatur non vitae nihil. Sapiente iste commodi tempora ipsa voluptas et. Sed molestiae perspiciatis expedita temporibus quis impedit. Incidunt distinctio et similique aut eum quo.

Recusandae est consequatur ut nisi qui velit autem. Quia libero blanditiis est veritatis amet. Est at molestias id consequatur voluptatem in quis. Blanditiis quis vel rerum aut. Officia laborum quasi dicta nihil vel eos qui incidunt.

Eaque debitis laboriosam quaerat corporis. Eos magnam minima autem. Hic voluptatem saepe fugit totam amet quae. Officiis consequatur laboriosam cum adipisci voluptatem rerum. Veritatis ipsum aliquam et. Aliquid occaecati necessitatibus rerum sapiente.

Beatae consequatur sunt inventore ut ut id. Delectus magni rerum omnis consequatur amet voluptate voluptas. Placeat quisquam maxime magni non aut eaque.

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.9%
  • Evercore 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.7%
  • JPMorgan No 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (15) $434
  • Associates (45) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (79) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
8
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
9
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”