As oil prices have rebounded in the second year of the coronavirus epidemic, Saudi Aramco, the Saudi state oil business, is once again the world’s most lucrative company, according to the Forbes Global 2000 published Thursday. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, prices for fossil energy have risen even further, implying that oil and gas corporations throughout the world would likely be even more profitable in 2022.
Before going public in late 2019, Saudi Aramco had already been crowned the world’s most successful firm, surpassing Apple as the most profitable commercial venture.
Apple, ahead of Microsoft, topped the list again in 2020, thanks to people working and socializing online during the early stages of the pandemic. Apple and Microsoft were dropped to the top 2 and 5 slots in the current 2021 list, respectively.
Since profits are known only for publicly listed companies or those planning to become listed on a stock exchange, the earnings of a large number of companies around the world, especially state companies, remain unknown and are not included on the list.
