The world’s 50 most valuable brands—ranked

Amazon is the world’s most valuable brand, according to the annual brand report published by British business strategy consultant Brand Finance. To determine its brand valuations, the consultancy looked at things like licensing costs, how much of a parent company’s revenue comes from a particular brand, and past financial performance and future forecasts. The list was first reported by USA Today.

The results, documented in the Global 500 2019 (that’s a PDF, FYI), show that tech is still the biggest gorilla in the room. The top 50 include 13 tech company brands, five car brands, and five telecommunications brands. Just over half of these brands (26) are owned by U.S. companies, while 15 are Chinese enterprises, including Tencent and e-commerce platform Tmall. The fastest-growing brand in the world is iQiyi, China’s answer to Netflix, up a whopping 326% from last year.

While it’s unsurprising to see companies like Apple, Amazon, Intel, and Google on the list, there are a few brand surprises. For instance, Marlboro clocks in at 39 with a brand value of $34 billion, while Volkswagen comes in at 27 with a brand value of $42 billion, seemingly having shaken off the blemish of its fake biodiesel scandal. The beleaguered Boeing is in at 42 with a brand value of $32 billion, slightly above McDonald’s, which has a $31 billion brand valuation. (Maybe they need to start offering a vegan burger, eh?)

Here are the top 13 most valuable brands in the world along with their valuations:

1. Amazon
• 2019 brand value: $188 billion
• 2018-2019 brand value change: +24.6%

2. Apple
• 2019 brand value: $154 billion
• 2018-2019 brand value change: +5.0%

3. Google
• 2019 brand value: $143 billion
• 2018-2019 brand value change: +18.1%

4. Microsoft
• 2019 brand value: $120 billion
• 2018-2019 brand value change: +47.4%

5. Samsung
• 2019 brand value: $91 billion
• 2018-2019 brand value change: -1.1%

6. AT&T
• 2019 brand value: $87 billion
• 2018-2019 brand value change: +5.6%

7. Facebook
• 2019 brand value: $83 billion
• 2018-2019 brand value change: +8.7%

8. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China
• 2019 brand value: $80 billion
• 2018-2019 brand value change: +34.9%

9. Verizon
• 2019 brand value: $71 billion
• 2018-2019 brand value change: +13.3%

10. China Construction Bank
• 2019 brand value: $70 billion
• 2018-2019 brand value change: +22.8%

11. Walmart
• 2019 brand value: $68 billion
• 2018-2019 brand value change: +10.4%

12. Huawei
• 2019 brand value: $62 billion
• 2018-2019 brand value change: +63.7%

13. Mercedes-Benz
• 2019 brand value: $60 billion
• 2018-2019 brand value change: +25.9%

To see the rest of the list, head to this link.