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The 24 most valuable brands in the world

Nathan Giannini

Consultancy firm Brand Finance released its annual list of the most valuable brands in the world on Wednesday, and there’s a new name at the top of the pile.

Google Global Hardware Operation director Paul Froutan (L) talks to Belgium King Albert II (2nd L) and Belgium's French-speaking socialist party (PS) President Elio Di Rupo (2nd R) and Walloon Region Economy Minister Jean-Claude Marcourt (R) during a visit at the site of the future Google Datacenter in Mons June 16, 2009. REUTERS/Thierry Roge
Google Global Hardware Operation director Paul Froutan (L) talks to Belgium King Albert II (2nd L) and Belgium’s French-speaking socialist party (PS) President Elio Di Rupo (2nd R) and Walloon Region Economy Minister Jean-Claude Marcourt (R) during a visit at the site of the future Google Datacenter in Mons June 16, 2009. REUTERS/Thierry Roge

Google (GOOGL), which came in second last year, overtook Apple (AAPL) to take the top spot. The search giant added a staggering $21 billion to its value over the past year, taking its total value to $109 billion. It last ranked as the most valuable brand in 2011.

The world's 24 most valuable brands.
The world’s 24 most valuable brands. (Courtesy of Brandirectory)

Brand Finance calculates value as the amount “a company would be willing to pay to license its brand as if it did not own it.” It also takes future revenue attributable to a brand into account.

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Tech brands dominate the top 10, with Wal-Mart (WMT) and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (1398.HK) the only companies not in the internet or telecom industries.

Google was named the most valuable brand in the world in a recent Brandirectory survey. (Courtesy of Brandirectory)
Google was named the most valuable brand in the world in a recent Brandirectory survey. (Courtesy of Brandirectory)

It wasn’t good news for all tech companies, though. Swedish telecommunications firm Ericsson (ERIC) lost 46 percent of its value, causing it to drop 204 places in the past year. Meanwhile, HP (HPQ) lost 60 percent of its brand value, the biggest percentage loss of any company on the list.

Amazon.com (AMZN) gained the most value over the past year, increasing $36 billion to $106 billion, good for the third most valuable brand in the world.

Despite grabbing the number two spot, Apple lost $38 billion in brand value, the largest net decrease of any company in the past year.

Amazon.com's value rose by more than $36 billion during 2016. (Courtesy of Brandirectory)
Amazon.com’s value rose by more than $36 billion during 2016. (Courtesy of Brandirectory)

Companies from the United States grabbed 198 of the 500 spots, including eight of the top 10. China, Japan, France and the United Kingdom complete the top five.

You can check out the full list on the Brand Finance website.

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