​Once again three Swiss companies among the 100 most expensive in the world 

Nestlé, like Roche and Novartis, is still one of the 100 most expensive companies in the world. However, the three major Swiss corporations have dropped a few places in the global ranking.(archive image)
Keystone
In 2024, three Swiss corporations have once again made it into the top 100 most expensive companies in the world. However, Roche, Nestlé and Novartis fell down the rankings. Meanwhile, the dominance of the USA is becoming increasingly clear.As in previous years, Roche, Nestlé and Novartis were the Swiss representatives among the “Top 100” most valuable listed companies in 2024. However, according to the compilation published on Friday by the auditing and consulting firm EY as at December 31, they are slipping further down the list. Overall, the 100 most expensive companies are worth 44.9 trillion US dollars, 25 percent more than in the previous year.Roche is now ranked 46th after 43rd place, while Nestlé has lost even more ground and is now only ranked 51st after 27th place last year. Novartis is ranked 66th (2023: 53rd place).A total of 15 Swiss companies made it into the “Top 500”, including ABB (165th place), UBS (169th place), Richemont (185th place) and, further down the list, Holcim (351st place) and Swiss Re (463rd place).However, the dominance of the USA in this ranking is becoming increasingly clear. 62 of the 100 most expensive companies now come from America – no European company made it into the top 10. Saudi Aramco is the only company in the top ten that does not come from the USA.According to EY, this record hunt on the stock markets is being fueled by the AI boom. This is driving up the valuations of many companies in the tech sector. This is also reflected in the market capitalization. At 20.16 trillion US dollars, the tech sector clearly accounts for the lion’s share.Accordingly, 24 of the top 100 companies come from this sector, 18 of which are based in the USA. Apple is the undisputed leader, followed by Nvidia and Microsoft. Nvidia in particular has clearly worked its way up the rankings: in 2023, the chip manufacturer was still in 6th place, while a year earlier it was only in 17th place.Europe only plays a minor role among tech companies – the German SAP Group and the Dutch chip supplier ASML are ranked 32nd and 33rd respectively. The most valuable European company is currently the Danish pharmaceutical group Novo Nordisk in 14th place, followed by the French luxury goods group LVMH in 28th place.