As of July 2022, the total market capitalization of the world's top 10 listed companies was close to $12 trillion, but TOP 10 on the list is no longer the old face of 20 years ago and has been baptized by new trends many times. On the whole, however, energy and technology alternately dominate.

Market capitalization is only one of many criteria to measure the value of companies and industries, but the change in market capitalization is still the best window to spy on industry trends and market sentiment. Although market capitalization provides insight into the value of stocks at a particular time, calculating market value is much more complex and more subtle. After all, the price investors pay for shares in a particular company may not reflect the real value of the company. To measure value, consider other indicators, such as the company's price-to-earnings ratio, price-to-earnings ratio, or return on equity.

Over the past 20 years, investor sentiment has changed as different trends have emerged, and so have the types of companies supported by the market. At the beginning of the 21st century, for example, technology and telecommunications companies were so large that investors were excited about the seemingly unlimited potential of the new World wide Web.

2000年，$Microsoft (MSFT.US)$It is the most valuable company among the listed companies in the world. That year, investors poured money into Internet-related technology start-ups. With the popularity of personal computers and the Internet, investors want to "enter" as soon as possible before these companies start to make a real profit. This overenthusiasm was reflected in the market capitalization of listed companies at the time, especially technology or telecoms companies seen as benefiting from the dotcom boom.

Nippon Telegraph and telephone, Deutsche Telekom, Japan's Docomo and Nokia were on the list during the 2G-3G transition period.

The dotcom bubble didn't last long. By January 2004, the ranking of the world's top 10 companies by market capitalization looked more diverse. At this point, Microsoft Corp lost his position at the top of the list, while General Electric Co's market capitalization was $309 billion.

And then in the first few years of 2010,$Exxon Mobil (XOM.US)$、$PetroChina (PTRCY.US)$、$Gazprom PJSC Sponsored ADR (OGZPY.US)$和$BP PLC (BP.US)$Energy companies such as companies dominate the list as oil prices soar to more than $100 a barrel. By 2022, with big technology once again becoming the focus of attention, technology to energy and back to technology, the list of the world's highest market capitalization has completed a complete cycle.

Of the five companies with the highest market capitalization, four are technology companies$TENCENT (00700.HK)$Is also in the top ten. Tesla, Inc. is classified as a car company, but many investors think it is a "car Internet" company.

Over the past 22 years, the throne of the world's most valuable company has been changing, Microsoft Corp,$General Electric (GE.US)$、 Petrochina Company Limited 、$Apple (AAPL.US)$Take turns with Saudi Aramco. It is worth noting that in 2014, oil prices soared to $100. the company that ranks first in global market capitalization is Apple Inc.

In 2022, in troubled times such as rising interest rates, high inflation and the war between Russia and Ukraine, there are signs of a possible global recession. Technology companies performed well during the COVID-19 pandemic, but may not be immune from a general economic slowdown. Perhaps in this period, the company that can still keep ahead is the real "immortal bird" of the capital market.