We are living in the age of AI.
Need proof?
The world’s largest company at $4.33 trillion is Nvidia, which designs computer chips CRITICAL to run AI models.
But of course they haven’t always been the world’s largest company.
Each decade is marked by a different driving force of the economy, and because of that, a different ruling company.
Here’s each one going back 100 years.
2010s: Apple
Peak size in the decade: $1.3 trillion total value (now $3.8 trillion)
What they did: Designed and sold phones, computers, wearables - basically all key consumer electronics.
Why they ruled: The 2010s was the smartphone revolution, and Apple led the way with the iPhone.
Iconic video.
2000s: Microsoft
Peak size in the decade: $606 billion total value (now $3.8 trillion)
What they did: Led the world in desktop computer software for consumers and businesses.
Why they ruled: This was the personal and business computing revolution, and almost every computer relied on Microsoft products. They were riding high (clearly).
This vid of former Microsoft CEO is an all-time classic.
1990s: General Electric
Peak size in the decade: $300 billion (now $315 billion)
What they did: Kind of everything - power, aviation, healthcare, finance, and technology.
Why they ruled: They rode the economic boom of America.
Crazy how life was in soft-focus through the 1990s.
1980s: IBM
Peak size in the decade: $34 billion (now $262 billion)
What they did: Dominated computers (mainframes, early personal computers) and office technologies.
Why they ruled: Businesses were digitizing, and IBM supplied the essential tech needed to do so.
Commercials were much better in the 80s.
1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s:
General Motors (GM)
Peak size in the decades: ~$35 billion (now $58 billion)
What they did: They were the world’s largest car manufacturer.
Why they ruled: Cars drove postwar economic growth. GM’s scale, innovation, and brand power were unparalleled.
Not surprisingly at all after seeing this beauty:
1920s, 1930s: U.S. Steel
Peak size in the decade: $2.5 billion (acquired by Nippon Steel for $15 billion in June 2025)
What they did: Dominated steel manufacturing as the backbone of U.S. industrialization.
Why they ruled: Enabled the Roaring Twenties’ construction, railways, and industry; unmatched market share and influence.
Steel mill - beautiful.
Times have changed
This was an interesting one for me.
It’s wild to see how the dominant forces in the economies have changed in the past hundred years.
We gone from raw materials (steel), to manufactured materials (cars), to computers, the internet, smartphones, and now AI.
It’s also insane to see what’s happened to previous market leaders - especially with U.S. Steel getting purchased just this year!
If this much change has happened in the last hundred years, what’s going to happen in the next hundred?
