For the 19th year running, Apple leads the Fortune World’s Most Admired Companies (WMAC) 2026 List. Now in its 28th year, the list was created in partnership with Fortune and the global consulting firm Korn Ferry.
Apple ranked first in Fortune’s annual ranking of corporate reputation, based on a poll of more than 3,000 executives, directors, and analysts. Apple watchers do fret about its lack of progress in AI, but it still earns top marks from respondents who value its smart management of talent, capital, and supply chains as highly as they do innovation. No doubt, AI is the major force shaping this year’s list. GPU juggernaut NVIDIA lands at No. 4, while two newcomers—chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (#48) and enterprise tech platform Workday (tied #49)—can thank AI for their growing prominence.
The WMAC Top 5 – Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, NVIDIA, and JPMorgan Chase – highlights organizations, several of which hover regularly at the top of this list, which peers believe have the hallmarks of financial stability, innovation, respected leadership, and expansion of global businesses.
Here are the 2026 Top 10 WMAC All-Stars:
- Apple
- Microsoft
- Amazon
- NVIDIA
- JPMorgan Chase
- Berkshire Hathaway
- Costco Wholesale
- Alphabet
- Walmart
- American Express
Click here for the complete list.
A handful of companies dropped out of the Top 50 this year, including Target (#27 last year), PepsiCo (#44), Novo Nordisk (#46), and Adobe (#50). The WMAC list overall includes 324 companies across 22 countries, with 235 based in the U.S., 58 in Europe, and 28 in the Asia/Pacific region.
The WMAC All-Stars list, however, is only one part of the World’s Most Admired Companies package; the other part highlights rankings within each of 45 industries. Some of this year’s top-ranked companies made comebacks after long stretches out of the limelight: in home equipment and furnishings, Whirlpool ranked No. 1 for the first time since 2018, while MetLife topped life and health insurance for the first time since 2015.
Others are first-time winners in their categories, including L’Oréal, which nudged Procter & Gamble off its six-year perch atop the soaps and cosmetics category, and GE Aerospace, which ended Lockheed Martin’s five-year reign as No. 1 in aerospace and defense.
This year’s WMAC list features 35 female-led companies, representing 10% of the total. Thirteen of these leaders also appeared on Fortune’s 2025 Most Powerful Women in Business list, including Julie Sweet of Accenture (#2), Jane Fraser of Citigroup (#3), and Lisa Su of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) (#4).
“Fortune is proud to celebrate the companies on this year’s World’s Most Admired Companies list; they have set the bar for real innovation, resilient leadership, and global impact,” said Alyson Shontell, Fortune’s Editor in Chief and Chief Content Officer. “As rapidly advancing technologies such as AI transform entire industries, these organizations stand out for their ability to evolve with purpose and foresight, consistently shaping the path forward for global business, and the future of how we work and lead.”
