Forbes has released what it believes to be the 2000 largest public companies in the world for 2006. The Forbes global 2000 differs slightly from the Fortune 500 companies list as it measures more than just the profits and the size of each company on the list. Those listed are ranked according to their assets, market value, profits, and sales.

As an example, the top 3 Fortune 500 companies in 2006 according to the Fortune magazine include Exxon Mobil, Wal-Mart Stores, and General Motors. But the Forbes Global 2000 has Citigroup, General Electric, and Bank of America as the top three public companies in the world.

The largest 2000 companies in the world increased their combined profits by 32% with just a 10% rise in sales over the past 12 months. Which clearly shows that increasing sales is not the only way to increase profits. Good management, innovative products, and cutting costs has proven to be just as important for increasing profits this year.

Two thousand of the largest companies in the world had sales of $24 trillion, profits of $1.7 trillion, $88 trillion in assets, a market value of $31 trillion, and employ 68 million people. American companies have six of the top ten places, including the first four of the world's largest.

If the list focused on company sales, the top ten companies in the world would of been dominated by oil and gas companies. Soaring gas prices in recent years have pushed oil companies towards the top of nearly every company list available. Whether one looks at sales, profits, or market value there have always been large multi national oil companies saturating the top 10.

Heading the profits ranking is Exxon Mobil with $36.13 billion, while the remaining top ten is also dominated by oil and gas companies. The computer software company Microsoft is a standout in the top ten company profits with $13.06 billion for the year.

Assets is about the only category that is not dominated by the oil industry. Barclays has the most assets with $1,587.06 billion, yet achieved just $5.92 billion in profits. The first company on the assets list that is not focused on banking, finance, or insurance is General Electric in 28th position.


See below for a listing of the top ten global companies according to the Forbes business magazine.

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