Most Valuable American Companies Every Year Since 1990

Companies and Brands

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Published: June 5, 2024 11:50 am

The U.S. economy is primarily driven by consumer spending. To put it another way, the country’s economy depends, to a large extent, on the private sector’s ability to identify — and sell — what people want. Fortune 500 companies alone generate a combined $18.1 billion in annual revenue and employ over 30.4 million people — equal to about two-thirds of U.S. gross domestic product and nearly one-in-every-five American jobs.

Big business has long been, and will long remain, an economic pillar in the United States. Still, the free market is always evolving, and over time, shifts in consumer preferences inevitably change the face of corporate America. Of the 10 most valuable U.S. companies in 2024, half are less than 35 years old — and none ranked among the 10 most valuable companies 35 years ago.

Using data compiled from a range of financial media outlets by an investor news blog, 24/7 Wall St. identified the most valuable American companies every year since 1990. For each year, we ranked the 10 S&P 500 companies with the highest estimated market capitalization as of January 1. Only companies that are still currently publicly traded were considered in this ranking.

Market capitalization, or market cap, is calculated by multiplying the number of outstanding shares of a publicly traded company by the value of a single share. Reflecting supply and demand dynamics, market cap is a preferred metric for gauging a company’s value. It is important to note that the values reflected in this story represent a snapshot in time, and that for any given company, market cap is subject to meaningful fluctuation.

In previous decades, the most valuable American companies were largely in the business of manufacturing and selling everyday household and personal products. Companies like Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), General Electric (NYSE: GE), and Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) regularly ranked among the 10 most valuable companies in the 1990’s and 2000’s None of these companies, however, ranked among the most valuable companies in at least the last nine years. (Here is a look at 20 companies that dominated corporate America in the 90’s.)

Today, the most valuable American companies are overwhelmingly concentrated in the technology sector. Tech giants Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG), Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), and Meta (NASDAQ: META) have ranked among the 10 U.S. companies with the largest market cap in at least eight of the last nine years. For other companies, high valuations in the last decade are partially attributable to mergers. For example, J.P. Morgan merged with Chase Manhattan in 2000 to form JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), a financial services firm that has regularly ranked among the largest U.S. companies in recent years. (Here is a look at 50 brands that blew up this year.)

Notably, there are also several American companies that have maintained leading market caps for most of the last three and a half decades. Companies like Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), and Walmart (NYSE: WMT) each appear on this list in at least 25 of the last 35 years.

Just as the biggest names in corporate America have changed since 1990, so too has their relative value. Between 1990 and 1996, the combined market cap of the 10 most valuable companies was equivalent to less than 10% of U.S. GDP. As of the beginning of 2022, the 10 most valuable U.S. companies were worth nearly $13.4 trillion, or 53% of U.S. GDP.

Why It Matters

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Consumer spending has accounted for well over 50% of American gross domestic product every year since at least the late 1940s, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. As of Q1 2024, personal spending generated nearly 68% of national GDP. Dependent on consumer spending, the health of the U.S. economy is closely tied to corporate performance. In recent decades, the face of corporate America has changed considerably. Several American companies — concentrated exclusively in the tech sector — now have estimated market caps exceeding $1 trillion, an unheard of valuation in previous decades.