The World’s Most Valuable Companies throughout History #1 – The Dutch East India Company


In this nine-piece report, Huntedhead will look at global corporations throughout history. The ranking is based on total worth, adjusted for inflation.

The Dutch East India Company in 1637 – $7,400,000,000,000

Established in 1602 in The Netherlands, the Dutch East India Company became the world’s first publicly traded company on the world’s first stock exchange. Originally starting out as a spice trader, it gained reputation for having the largest shipping fleet between Europe and Asia. In later years, the variety of goods shipped extended and the most profitable product turned out to be tulip bulbs. The so-called tulipmania, where investors drove up the price of a single tulip bulb to the price of house, skyrocketed the value of the EIC to tremendous heights, before coming down to a grinding halt as the bubble bursted. The present day equivalent of its 78 million Dutch guilders value amounts to a whopping $7.4 trillion dollars, earning the Dutch East India Company an unequalled #1 spot in our list.

Dutch East India Company ship (drawing)

The Dutch East India Company, the world's most valuable company

 

The World’s Most Valuable Companies throughout History #2 – The Mississippi Company
The World’s Most Valuable Companies throughout History #3 – The South Sea Company

The World’s Most Valuable Companies throughout History #4 – Saudi Aramco

The World’s Most Valuable Companies throughout History #5 – IBM

The World’s Most Valuable Companies throughout History #6 – PetroChina

The World’s Most Valuable Companies throughout History #7 – Microsoft
The World’s Most Valuable Companies throughout History #8 – Apple
The World’s Most Valuable Companies throughout History #9 – ExxonMobil

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