Amazon claims top spot in Brand Finance Global 500 with $150bn valuation
Amazon has eclipsed rivals Apple and Google in the latest Brand Finance Global 500 ranking as the e-commerce goliath cemented its position as the most valuable brand on the planet with growth of 42% year on year to achieve a valuation of $150.8bn.
Amazon claims top spot in Brand Finance Global 500 with $150bn valuation
Amazon is now the world’s largest internet business in terms of market capitalization and revenue after successfully diversifying into cloud infrastructure and electronics, with its hunger for expansion set to continue unabated following a mammoth $13.7bn takeover of Whole Foods last year.
David Haigh, chief executive officer of brand finance, remarked: “Jeff Bezos once said that ‘brands are more important online than they are in the physical world’. He has proved himself right by choosing the name Amazon, known as the largest, most powerful river in the world, as 23 years later the Amazon brand carries all before it as an unstoppable force. The strength and value of the Amazon brand gives it stakeholder permission to extend relentlessly into new sectors and geographies. All evidence suggests that the amazing Amazon brand is going to continue growing indefinitely and exponentially.”
Apple held onto the number two position with its brand value estimated at $146.3bn but is thought unlikely to pose any long-term threat to Amazon owing to an overdependence on the sale of a single product line, iPhones.
Google meanwhile suffered an ignominious drop from first to third amidst disappointing brand growth of just 10% to $120.9bn, held back again by an over-reliance on specific sectors such as online advertising.
Rounding out the top five were Samsung ($92.3bn) and Facebook ($89.7bn) marking the first time that all top-tier spots in the global league table have been held by technology firms.