This is a guest contribution by Bespoke Investment Group:
"For those interested, below we highlight the 25 largest companies in the world. For each company, we provide its country, sector, price (local currency), year to date change, and market cap in dollars. As shown, Exxon Mobil (XOM) is the biggest company in the world and the only one worth more than $300 billion. PetroChina ranks second and is the only other company worth more than $200 billion. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China is the world's third largest company, giving China two of the biggest three. Wal-Mart and Microsoft round out the top five. The United States still dominates the list with 12 of the 25 spots. China ranks second with four spots. General Electric used to be the biggest company in the world, but it has slipped all the way down to the 18th spot. Google (GOOG) is also on the list at number 22."
Source: Bespoke Investment Group, April 27, 2009
