Thomson Reuters
Amazon has a combined 28 million followers on Facebook and Twitter.
We recently released a list of the 50 most powerful companies in America.
To create this list, we factored in fiscal revenue, number of employees, press mentions, and social media influence, as ranked on a scale of 1 to 100 by Klout, a site that analyzes social-media influence of companies and individuals across all platforms.
We decided to re-rank the companies by Klout score to determine which companies command the most influence on social media. Read here for a detailed description of how Klout score is calculated.
Tech giants Amazon and Microsoft are both in the top spot with a near-perfect Klout score of 99 out of a possible 100. Walmart, the No. 1 most powerful company in America, drops to No. 18 when ranked only by social media influence.
Scroll through to find out which of America’s most powerful companies stack up on social media.
Disclosure: Jeff Bezos is an investor in Business Insider through hispersonal investment company Bezos Expeditions.
25. Wells Fargo
2014 revenue: $84.34 billion
Number of employees: 265,800
The largest bank in America by market capitalization was also named the most valuable bank brand in the world three years in a row by Brand Finance. The company is somewhat influential online with a Klout score of 88, commanding 172,000 Twitter followers and over 800,000 Facebook likes.
Wells Fargo, unlike its competitors, has focused on traditional lending rather than investments, which has led to more rising profits since the financial crisis. Big investors have taken notice of the San Francisco-based bank — as of May 2015, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway owned 470 million shares of Wells Fargo.
24. Lockheed Martin
2014 revenue: $45.6 billion
Number of employees: 112,000
Security and aerospace company Lockheed Martin builds everything from military aircraft and radar to cybersecurity systems and missiles. The company has a respectable Klout score of 89, with half a million combined followers on Facebook and Twitter.
In short, the Owego, New York-based company supplies our defenses and keeps them strong. And since it doesn’t look like the military is going defunct anytime soon, the defense industry will remain in high supply.
23. Goldman Sachs
2014 revenue: $34.53 billion
Number of employees: 34,000
On Wall Street, few names inspire as much respect as Goldman Sachs. And the investment banking firm is on the rise — it grew profits 5% last year and recently garnered attention for backing Symphony, a secure internal chat system that has been called a “Bloomberg killer.”
Goldman also proves its social media influence with over 400,000 followers on Twitter and more than 30,000 likes on Facebook, earning the New York-based bank a Klout score of 89.
22. American Express
2014 revenue: $34.3 billion
Number of employees: 53,500
Between slowing sales and the expiration of its exclusive deal with Costco, it was a tough year for American Express. But the credit-card company still remains profitable, proving that powerful companies can take a hit and still bounce back.
On the social media front, New York City-based Amex still commands a strong presence with over 5 million Facebook fans, 845,000 Twitter followers, and a Klout score of 89.
21. PepsiCo
2014 revenue: $66.7 billion
Number of employees: 271,000
Despite a major slump in soda sales, America’s leading beverage producer found ways to remain profitable. PepsiCo, which operates out of Purchase, New York, owns 22 of the most well-known food and drink brands in the world, including Gatorade, Frito-Lay, and Tropicana, which all earned more than $1 billion in sales in 2014.
Pepsi boasts nearly 3 million followers on Twitter but with a Klout score of 89, comes up just behind its competitor, Coca-Cola, in terms of social-media influence.
20. Bank of America
2014 revenue: $85.1 billion
Number of employees: 220,000
One of America’s Big Four banks, Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America has carved out its place not only in commercial banking, but in wealth management. With 2.2 million Facebook fans and an overall Klout score of 90, Bank of America commands more online influence than any of its competitors.
In 2008, Bank of America merged with Merrill Lynch, forming the world’s largest wealth-management company by assets. Bank of America launched its Preferred Rewards program in 2014 in an aim to improve customer satisfaction.
19. Comcast
2014 revenue: $68.78 billion
Number of employees: 139,000
The largest broadcasting and cable company in the world by revenue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based Comcast owns Comcast Cable (under Xfinity) and NBCUniversal. Under both brands, the company operates Universal Pictures, Universal Parks and Resorts, a host of popular television channels including E! and Bravo, and Hulu, one of the top movie and TV streaming apps. Comcast also commands the web boasting a Klout score of 90 with high social media engagement across all platforms.
Comcast was set to merge with Time Warner earlier this year, but the deal was cut short in April. Meanwhile, NBCUniversal has been investing heavily in new media brands Vox Media and BuzzFeed.
18. Walmart
2014 revenue: $485.62 billion
Number of employees: 2.2 million
With 11,500 stores in 28 countries, Walmart’s scope is undeniable. The family-owned, Arkansas-based retailer has a Klout score of 90 and a colossal following of more than 32 million fans on Facebook. Walmart is also one of the world’s most valuable retail brands behind online giants Alibaba and Amazon.
Walmart is also the single-largest employer in America and announced earlier this year it’s raising wages for 500,000 of its 1.4 million US workers. The company sits at No. 1 on the Fortune 500.
17. General Motors
2014 revenue: $155.9 billion
Number of employees: 212,000
GM, one of the world’s largest automakers, has been in business for over a century. Despite a year filled with legal battles that recently ended with a multimillion-dollar settlement deal, GM has increased sales on the popular Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac brands.
The Detroit-based motor company has 21,000 dealers spanning six continents and a Klout score of 91, putting it just behind its competitor, Ford Motor Company, in terms of social-media influence.
16. AT&T
2014 revenue: $131.6 billion
Number of employees: 250,730
The Dallas, Texas-based mobile phone service provider is now also the largest pay-TV provider in the US thanks to a recent $48.5 billion merger with DirecTV. AT&T’s 4G LTE network covers more than 300 million people.
AT&T has a Klout score of 91 — thanks to 696,000 Twitter followers and 5.8 million Facebook likes — and is the only telecommunications company to rank on Fortune’s most admired companies list.
17. General Electric
2014 revenue: $72.61 billion
Number of employees: 347,000
With more than 16 divisions and hundreds of thousands of employees worldwide, General Electric has its hand in almost every aspect of daily life. The corporation has 1.4 million Facebook fans and a Klout score of 91, proving its prowess online as well.
From the electricity that powers our homes to the appliances that cook our food to the engines that power our airplanes, the Fairfield, Connecticut-based company is constantly innovating.
14. Target
2014 revenue: $72.61 billion
Number of employees: 347,000
Target has a Klout score of 90 and has been turning to its millions of social media followers to gauge customer satisfaction.
In response to a social-media storm, Minneapolis, Minnesota-based Target pleased many loyal customers when it announced this summer that it would begin to phase out gender-specific signage from its stores.
The retailer hasn’t been quiet about its support for equal rights and gay marriage, either. To date, Target has also given $1 billion to education through fundraising and global initiatives.
13. Cisco Systems
2014 revenue: $47.1 billion
Number of employees: 74,042
After a difficult fiscal 2014, Cisco Systems is expected to come back strong with a new CEO at the helm who’s already fixing some costly mistakes. The worldwide leader in IT is expected to continue growing its emerging cloud services and security business.
The Silicon Valley company has a Klout score of 92, expectedly high considering much of the world’s internet traffic runs through Cisco Systems.
12. Nike
2014 revenue: $27.7 billion
Number of employees: 56,500
Athletic gear is becoming a mainstream clothing staple — whether you actually work out or not — and no one does it better than Nike. The apparel company, headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, is predicted to outperform the industry for the next five years, Business Insider reported earlier this year.
With 5.4 million Twitter followers, more than 23 million Facebook fans, and 24.7 million instagram followers, and an overall Klout score of 92, Nike proves its social media know-how is no joke.
11. Coca-Cola
2014 revenue: $45.99 billion
Number of employees: 129,200
Chances are, you’ve consumed at least one of the 657 billion Coca-Cola products purchased annually. The beverage company, based in Atlanta, Georgia, is impossible to ignore. Whether you’re at the grocery store or the movies or grabbing concessions during halftime, Coke — or Sprite, or Fanta— is on tap.
The brand is savvy on social media as well; a Klout score of 92 represents Coca-Cola’s community of more than 3 million Twitter followers and a whopping 93 million Facebook fans.
10. Hewlett-Packard
2014 revenue: $111.5 billion
Number of employees: 302,000
Hewlett-Packard isn’t looking great after announcing that it will cut another 25,000 to 30,000 jobs, part of a huge multiyear layoff plan.
But being powerful isn’t always about being well-liked, and the Palo Alto-based company remains a dominant corporation, especially considering that press mentions — both positive and negative — factored into our rankings. The company also rakes in a huge amount of revenue: over $100 billion last year alone.
HP fares well in terms of social media, however, with nearly 4 million combined Twitter and Facebook followers and a Klout score of 92.
9. McDonald’s
2014 revenue: $27.4 billion
Number of employees: 420,000
With consumer trends moving toward fast-casual and away from fast food, Oak Brook, Illinois-based McDonald’s is doing all it can to stay relevant. For starters, the fast-food giant seems to be keeping up on social media with nearly 60 million Facebook fans, 3 million Twitter followers, and a Klout score of 93.
McDonald’s overall turnaround plan includes rolling out all-day breakfast and revamping some of its stores to launch the “create your own” gourmet burger option.
The company lists eight countries, including China and Russia, as high-growth markets — aka locations with high expansion and franchising potential, which is important since a large majority of McDonald’s restaurants (about 80% by the end of 2014) operate as franchises.
8. eBay
2014 revenue: $17.9 billion
Number of employees: 34,600
In 2014, the California-based e-commerce giant announced it would be splitting eBay and PayPal into two companies. EBay also runs StubHub, but PayPal has been its principal source of growth since the company was bought by eBay in 2002.
Still, eBay, now in its 20th year of operation, has a huge command over online shoppers spanning 203 markets worldwide. It’s powerful online, as well: The company has a Klout score of 94 and has kept a steady social media following over the years.
7. Ford Motor Company
2014 revenue: $135.8 billion
Number of employees: 187,000
Sales were down for Ford last year, but it’s not a sign of defeat. Fortune notes that the Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker intentionally — and strategically — took a “rebuilding” year to refocus before pushing back full force. Ford has also been engaging with customers on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, and has an impressive Klout score of 94.
As a result, the company saw profits jump a whopping 44% in the second quarter, far surpassing predictions.
6. Intel
2014 revenue: $55.25 billion
Number of employees: 106,700
Intel, headquartered in Santa Clara, California, is the world’s leading semiconductor chipmaker with a market cap of $140 billion. Apple has been using Intel chips for its computers since Steve Jobs announced the switch from IBM in 2005.
Last year, Intel lost billions of dollars going after its flailing mobile phone business, but now it’s probable that Apple will replenish Intel’s losses by allowing it to capture half of its modem business with this year’s iPhone release.
Intel’s undoubtedly doing well on social media, though, and commands a high Klout score of 96. It has more than 4 million Twitter followers and 25 million fans on Facebook.
5. Google
2014 revenue: $66 billion
Number of employees: 53,600
The search giant will soon become the largest subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., a holding company Google executives announced this summer. The Silicon Valley company is consistently ranked one of the best companies to work for in America, with a startup culture that’s envied by many.
Google also owns YouTube, the world’s largest video-sharing website. Google’s Klout score is 98, unsurprisingly high for one of the world’s most innovative and engaging companies.
4. Yahoo
2014 revenue: $4.98 billion
Number of employees: 12,500
California-based Yahoo generated more than $1 billion in new revenue in 2014 through its mobile, video, native, and social channels (aka Mavens). Yahoo now reaches 575 million mobile users, one of the largest mobile audiences globally. According to analytics site Alexa.com, Yahoo is the fifth most popular site in the world, and has a Klout score of 98 — unsurprising for an internet giant.
Furthering its scope, Yahoo entered a partnership with Mozilla in late 2014 to use Yahoo.com as the default homepage for Firefox in the US.
3. Facebook
2014 revenue: $12.7 billion
Number of employees: 10,955
The pioneer of social media is now the top social commerce platform, driving more than two-thirds of mobile e-commerce traffic. Thanks to ads on the site, revenue was up 58% in 2014 for the Silicon Valley company.
This summer, Facebook’s market value topped $250 billion, making it the fastest company to reach that high so quickly.
Ultimately, Facebook has incredible influence. In August, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that 1 in 7 people on Earth used Facebook in a single day. Unsurprisingly, the social media giant has a high Klout score of 98.
2. Microsoft
2014 revenue: $86.83 billion
Number of employees: 118,000
Microsoft is on the upswing. Revenues are up 11% from last year, with tablet sales continuing to grow. In fact, the Surface brought in over $1 billion in sales in the fourth quarter last year, making it “respectably profitable,” Business Insider reported.
It’s no surprise that the Redmond, Washington-based technology company is also social media savvy with more than 7 million Twitter followers, earning it a near-perfect Klout score of 99.
1. Amazon
2014 revenue: $88.99 billion
Number of employees: 154,100
As the largest e-commerce site in the country, Amazon recently surpassed Walmart as the most valuable retailer in America in terms of market capitalization. It’s also the company on our list with the highest social media engagement boasting a Klout score of 99 and a combined Twitter and Facebook following of 28 million.
The Seattle-based company currently owns over 40 subsidiaries, including Zappos, IMDb, and GoodReads, and refuses to be left behind in the consumer-electronics market.
Amazon debuted an e-reader and tablet to compete with Apple and launched Amazon Instant Video, which has produced an award-winning original television series.
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