The Most Valuable Companies in America Over 100 Years

How much does the business world shift in a century?

Today’s visualization comes from HowMuch.net, and it uses Forbes data to show how the list of the top 10 companies in the U.S. has evolved over the last 100 years.

1917: The Industrialist Era

In 1911, both John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil and J.P. Morgan’s U.S. Steel (which was formed from Andrew Carnegie’s steel company and others) were facing antitrust action.

Standard Oil, which controlled over 90% of all oil in the United States by 1900, got split up into 34 independent companies after a ruling by the Supreme Court. However, U.S. Steel, which controlled 67% of steel in the country, was able to weather the antitrust storm at the time.

In the chart showing data for 1917, you can see that U.S. Steel – which was considered the world’s first “billion dollar” company – reigned supreme in the U.S. based on the value of its assets. Meanwhile, Standard Oil of N.J. (a fragment of the Standard Oil breakup) was still able to finish in the third spot on the list.

1967: The Hardware Era

Fast forward 50 years, and oil is still big.

Standard Oil of N.J. (eventually to be re-named as Exxon Corp. in 1972) is the fifth biggest company in the country. Texaco and Gulf Oil, both of which later merged into Chevron (another Standard Oil offshoot) also make the top 10 in terms of market valuation.

Aside from energy, the 1967 list seems dominated by companies that make tangible things. IBM was making some of the first and most advanced computers, GM was the largest U.S. auto manufacturer, and both Kodak and Polaroid made cameras. General Electric, a conglomerate, made everything from computers to jet engines at this time.

2017: The Platform Era

Fast forward to now, and platforms like Facebook, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Apple have taken over.

We’ve shown how these five companies make their billions, and also how Facebook and Google are able to dominate global ad revenues through scale.

Meanwhile, many of the stalwarts from 1967 have fallen: Polaroid and Kodak both filed for bankruptcy, and Sears Canada filed for bankruptcy months ago. And of the big names from 1917, only AT&T remains of significance.

This raises the question: what will the next 50 years hold – and how many names from the 2017 list will remain?

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TECHNOLOGY

Advanced Semiconductor Market Share by Country (2023-2027F)

Published

2 hours ago

on

March 11, 2024

Advanced Semiconductor Market Share by Country (2023-2027F)

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

In today’s fast-changing tech landscape, advanced semiconductors drive innovation across industries, powering devices from smartphones to healthcare equipment.

In this graphic, we visualize advanced foundry capacity by country, for 2023 and forecasts for 2027. This data comes from TrendForce, and was published in December 2023.

Advanced vs. Mature Processes

Advanced manufacturing processes refer to ≤16/14 nanometer (nm) nodes. Smaller transistors allow manufacturers to pack more of them onto a single chip, increasing processing power and efficiency.

For example, the iPhone 15 Pro uses Apple’s first chip manufactured with a 3 nm process, while the Playstation 5 uses a 6 nm chip.

Mature processes (28 nm or larger) are cheaper to produce and are used in products that don’t require significant computing power. This includes home appliances and fitness trackers.

Taiwan Still

1

for Foreseeable Future

Taiwan holds 68% of advanced foundry capacity, though this is expected to fall to 60% by 2027 as the U.S. expands its domestic capacity. Taiwanese TSMC tops the list of the largest producer of advanced semiconductors. The company earned 60% (or nearly $17 billion) of semiconductor foundry revenue in Q1 2023.

Japan is also getting into the mix, with Rapidus Corp. aiming to produce 2 nm chips by 2027.

U.S. share of advanced process capacity is expected to increase from 12% to 17% by 2027, although over half of this capacity will come from foreign companies operating in the U.S., such as Samsung or TSMC.

Meanwhile, in response to export controls on advanced chip making equipment by the U.S., China is focusing on mature processes. China’s mature process capacity is set to grow from 31% to 39% by 2027.

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By

Jeff Desjardins