100 most expensive brands by value in the world in 2023
Brand value can be an important part of any company's intangible assets.
These types of non-physical assets, such as patents and trademarks, have an increasing impact on the overall value of a company. A 2020 analysis found that intangible assets accounted for 90% of the S&P 500's market value, up 22 percentage points from 1995.
This graph shows the world's 100 most valuable brands in 2023, based on Brand Finance's annual rankings, illustrating the role of brand equity in a company's market position.
Top 100 Companies by Brand Value
Brand Finance studied over 5,000 companies (and in the case of groups like Alphabet and Meta, their sub-brands) in 38 countries.
In a broad sense, brand value is the distribution of the profits of the company associated with the brand. More information about the methodology is at the end of this article.
Here are the 10 most valuable brands in 2023:
| Ganges | Brand | Brand value | A country | Sector |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amazon | $299.3 | US | Retail |
| 2 | Apple | $297.5 | US | Technologies |
| 3 | $281.4 | US | Media | |
| 4 | Microsoft | $191.6 | US | Technologies |
| 5 | walmart | $113.8 | US | Retail |
| 6 | Samsung Group | $99.7 | South Korea | Technologies |
| 7 | ICBC | $69.5 | China | Banking sector |
| 8 | Verizon | $67.4 | US | Telecom |
| 9 | Tesla | $66.2 | US | Cars |
| 10 | TikTok/Douyin | $65.7 | China | Media |
Amazon is number one in the world with a brand value of $299 billion. As the market leader in online commerce, it enjoys strong brand loyalty in the B2C segment, which generates the largest share of revenue, and is a key player in cloud services for its B2B platforms.
Apple comes in second with a brand value of $298 billion. Crucially, both the tech giants' brands have fallen in value year-over-year as supply chain disruptions, labor market restrictions and lower revenue forecasts have weighed on their brands.
Other big tech brands Google (#3) and Microsoft (#4) were next in the rankings. Korean conglomerate Samsung (#6) was the top ranked firm based outside of America.
Brand Value: Top Industries in 2023
Looking at brand value by sector, we can see that technology continues to dominate. The sector breakdown below uses data from the top 500 brands covered by Brand Finance.
| Rank | Name |
| |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BYD | 57% | |
| 2 | ConocoPhillips | 56% | |
| 3 | Maersk | 53% | |
| 4 | 49% | ||
| 5 | Christian Dior | 46% | |
| 6 | Tesla | 44% | |
| 7 | ADP | 44% | |
| 8 | United Airlines | 42% | |
| 9 | 42% | ||
| 10 | Equinor | 40% |
BYD, China's leading electric vehicle (EV) company, jumped the fastest. With a focus on budget electric vehicles and backed by Warren Buffett, it has become a growing competitor to Tesla and is the second largest lithium-ion battery manufacturer in the world.
Energy company ConocoPhillips achieved the second-largest brand value growth by focusing on energy transition fuels, reducing manufacturing emissions and lowering supply costs.
After a series of difficult years for the airline industry, United Airline's brand value has risen 42% as travel demand has grown.
As the economic landscape continues to change, the value of these brands will also change.
Where does this data come from?
Source: Brand Finance Global 500 report.
Important note. The values above are a calculation of brand value, not market capitalization. See below for details.
How is brand value calculated? Generally speaking, the methodology for calculating "brand value" is a formula that looks like this:
Brand Strength (BSI) x Brand Royalty Rate x Brand Revenue = Brand Value
The Brand Strength Index (BSI) evaluates brand investment, brand equity and brand performance. The brand royalty rate is determined by sector. Finally, projected brand-specific revenues are determined based on the share of the parent company's revenue attributable to the brand in question. The brand value itself is discounted to net present value.