Companies with high profits and revenue per employee are presumed to be the most successful. Alphabet, Microsoft, and Meta Platforms, owner of Facebook, are such companies. These tech companies are among the largest in the United States, based on revenue, and they are among the youngest large companies. Several were founded in the past 25 years. However, a group of relatively small companies leads the list of highest profit per employee.
Data for the recent “Profit per Employee” research paper from software company Tipalti came from the Fortune 500. The paper examined 914 major companies, most of which made a profit per employee in the last year. Only 238 reported a loss per employee. The company that has the most profits per employee is Air Lease. The company reported $516 million in profits, or $4.3 million per employee.
Air Lease, with an employee count of 120, buys passenger planes and leases them to airlines. The process allows carriers that do not have capital access to planes. Air Lease makes its profit largely off the interest it charges these carriers. The company was hurt by the trouble with the aviation industry caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, but its financials have started to recover.
When the company announced its 2021 results, John L. Plueger, chief executive officer and president, commented: “We had a strong fourth quarter and second half of 2021 that benefited from continuing airline industry recovery, as seen in our cash collections, operating metrics, fleet expansion, and record lease placement.”
Air Lease owns 474 planes that it leases to 118 customers in 60 countries. The company is based in Los Angeles. (See if Air Lease is also among the 50 best companies to work for.)
To find the 50 companies with the most profits per employee, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed Tipalti’s “Profit per Employee” research paper. Very few of the companies with the highest profit per employee are large tech companies. Meta is highest among these, ranking 11th with a profit of nearly $500,000 per employee based on over 58,000 workers. Several financial firms are ahead of Meta.Â
Mortgage giant Fannie Mae has profit of $1.5 million per employee based on 7,700 workers. This places it second on the list. The third is private equity firm KKR, at $1.3 million per employee based on 1,583 workers. (Find out if any of the companies on this list were also among the most innovative companies in 2021.)
Click here to see the company that has the most profits per employee
50. Oneok
> Profit per employee: $212,335
> Sector: Energy
> Total profit: $612.8 million
[in-text-ad]
Source: BackyardProduction / iStock via Getty Images
49. Crown Castle International
> Profit per employee: $215,510
> Sector: Financials
> Total profit: $1.1 billion
Source: Antonio Bordunovi / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
48. Nvidia
> Profit per employee: $228,300
> Sector: Technology
> Total profit: $4.3 billion
Source: Courtesy of Cincinnati Financial
47. Cincinnati Financial
> Profit per employee: $230,991
> Sector: Financials
> Total profit: $1.2 billion
[in-text-ad-2]
Source: Mike Windle / Getty Images
46. Activision Blizzard
> Profit per employee: $231,263
> Sector: Media
> Total profit: $2.2 billion
Source: Mario Tama / Getty Images
45. Goldman Sachs Group
> Profit per employee: $233,556
> Sector: Financials
> Total profit: $9.5 billion
[in-text-ad]
Source: David Tran / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
44. Adobe
> Profit per employee: $233,612
> Sector: Technology
> Total profit: $5.3 billion
Source: Intercontinental Exchange / Public Domain / / Wikimedia Commons
43. Intercontinental Exchange
> Profit per employee: $234,983
> Sector: Financials
> Total profit: $2.1 billion
Source: photovs / Getty Images
42. Tri Pointe Homes
> Profit per employee: $242,648
> Sector: Engineering and construction
> Total profit: $282.2 million
[in-text-ad-2]
Source: mphillips007 / iStock Unreleased via Getty Images
41. D.R. Horton
> Profit per employee: $244,308
> Sector: Engineering and construction
> Total profit: $2.4 billion
40. Celanese
> Profit per employee: $259,206
> Sector: Chemicals
> Total profit: $2.0 billion
[in-text-ad]
Source: Brett_Hondow / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
39. Lennar
> Profit per employee: $259,610
> Sector: Engineering and construction
> Total profit: $2.5 billion
24/7 Wall St.
Source: Michael Vi / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
38. Sempra
> Profit per employee: $267,374
> Sector: Energy
> Total profit: $3.9 billion
Source: Yok_Piyapong / iStock via Getty Images
37. PulteGroup
> Profit per employee: $268,013
> Sector: Engineering and construction
> Total profit: $1.4 billion
[in-text-ad-2]
Source: Courtesy of Meritage Homes
36. Meritage Homes
> Profit per employee: $269,745
> Sector: Engineering and construction
> Total profit: $423.5 million
Source: lcva2 / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
35. Microsoft
> Profit per employee: $271,663
> Sector: Technology
> Total profit: $44.3 billion
[in-text-ad]
Source: Sundry Photography / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
34. BioMarin Pharmaceutical
> Profit per employee: $280,843
> Sector: Health care
> Total profit: $859.1 million
24/7 Wall St.
Source: FatCamera / E+ via Getty Images
33. Seagen
> Profit per employee: $293,356
> Sector: Health care
> Total profit: $613.7 million
Source: JasonDoiy / iStock Unreleased via Getty Images
32. Netflix
> Profit per employee: $293,766
> Sector: Media
> Total profit: $2.8 billion
[in-text-ad-2]
Source: JHVEPhoto / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
31. Alphabet
> Profit per employee: $297,625
> Sector: Technology
> Total profit: $40.3 billion
Source: hapabapa / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
30. BlackRock
> Profit per employee: $298,909
> Sector: Financials
> Total profit: $4.9 billion
[in-text-ad]
Source: JHVEPhoto / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
29. Amgen
> Profit per employee: $298,930
> Sector: Health care
> Total profit: $7.3 billion
Source: nd3000 / iStock via Getty Images
28. American Tower
> Profit per employee: $300,926
> Sector: Financials
> Total profit: $1.7 billion
Source: jbk_photography / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
27. Mastercard
> Profit per employee: $305,286
> Sector: Business services
> Total profit: $6.4 billion
[in-text-ad-2]
Source: Ridofranz / iStock via Getty Images
26. FM Global
> Profit per employee: $307,893
> Sector: Financials
> Total profit: $1.7 billion
Source: RiverNorthPhotography / Getty Images
25. T. Rowe Price
> Profit per employee: $309,026
> Sector: Financials
> Total profit: $2.4 billion
[in-text-ad]
Source: Sundry Photography / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
24. Electronic Arts
> Profit per employee: $310,102
> Sector: Media
> Total profit: $3.0 billion
24/7 Wall St.
23. Blackstone Group
> Profit per employee: $330,300
> Sector: Financials
> Total profit: $1.0 billion
Source: sanfel / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
22. LGI Homes
> Profit per employee: $345,309
> Sector: Engineering and construction
> Total profit: $323.9 million
[in-text-ad-2]
Source: Jim.henderson / Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
21. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals
> Profit per employee: $385,093
> Sector: Health care
> Total profit: $3.5 billion
Source: PhillDanze / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
20. Apple
> Profit per employee: $390,551
> Sector: Technology
> Total profit: $57.4 billion
[in-text-ad]
Source: Courtesy of Aflac Duck
19. Aflac
> Profit per employee: $398,067
> Sector: Financials
> Total profit: $4.8 billion
18. Monster Beverage
> Profit per employee: $422,036
> Sector: Food, beverages and tobacco
> Total profit: $1.4 billion
Source: biogen.com
17. Biogen
> Profit per employee: $439,626
> Sector: Health care
> Total profit: $4.0 billion
[in-text-ad-2]
Source: Dan Kitwood / Getty Images News via Getty Images
16. eBay
> Profit per employee: $446,220
> Sector: Technology
> Total profit: $5.7 billion
Source: Antonio_Diaz / iStock via Getty Images
15. UWM Holdings
> Profit per employee: $451,000
> Sector: Financials
> Total profit: $3.4 billion
[in-text-ad]
Source: MenzhiliyAnantoly / iStock via Getty Images
14. Magellan Midstream Partners
> Profit per employee: $475,000
> Sector: Energy
> Total profit: $817 million
Source: xubingruo / iStock via Getty Images
13. Bio-Rad Laboratories
> Profit per employee: $475,788
> Sector: Technology
> Total profit: $3.8 billion
Source: hxdbzxy / iStock via Getty Images
12. CME Group
> Profit per employee: $481,739
> Sector: Financials
> Total profit: $2.1 billion
[in-text-ad-2]
Source: Derick Hudson / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
11. Meta Platforms
> Profit per employee: $497,338
> Sector: Technology
> Total profit: $29.1 billion
Source: Prykhodov / Getty Images
10. Western Midstream Partners
> Profit per employee: $504,306
> Sector: Energy
> Total profit: $527 million
[in-text-ad]
Source: Courtesy of Enterprise Products Partners
9. Enterprise Products Partners
> Profit per employee: $529,537
> Sector: Energy
> Total profit: $3.8 billion
Source: Justin Sullivan / Getty Images
8. Visa
> Profit per employee: $530,049
> Sector: Business services
> Total profit: $10.9 billion
Source: Mario Tama / Getty Images
7. Altria Group
> Profit per employee: $629,155
> Sector: Food, beverages and tobacco
> Total profit: $4.5 billion
[in-text-ad-2]
Source: PeopleImages / Getty Images
6. Vertex Pharmaceuticals
> Profit per employee: $797,529
> Sector: Health care
> Total profit: $2.7 billion
Source: Stefan Zaklin / Getty Images
5. Freddie Mac
> Profit per employee: $1,058,365
> Sector: Financials
> Total profit: $7.3 billion
[in-text-ad]
4. NortonLifeLock
> Profit per employee: $1,079,722
> Sector: Technology
> Total profit: $3.9 billion
3. KKR
> Profit per employee: $1,265,003
> Sector: Financials
> Total profit: $2.0 billion
2. Fannie Mae
> Profit per employee: $1,533,117
> Sector: Financials
> Total profit: $11.8 billion
[in-text-ad-2]
Source: Jetlinerimages / iStock via Getty Images
1. Air Lease
> Profit per employee: $4,302,500
> Sector: Business services
> Total profit: $516.3 million
Take This Retirement Quiz To Get Matched With An Advisor Now (Sponsored)
Are you ready for retirement? Planning for retirement can be overwhelming, that’s why it could be a good idea to speak to a fiduciary financial advisor about your goals today.
Start by taking this retirement quiz right here from SmartAsset that will match you with up to 3 financial advisors that serve your area and beyond in 5 minutes. Smart Asset is now matching over 50,000 people a month.
Click here now to get started.
Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.
Editors' Picks
