If you’ve ever wondered how much control and power the top financial companies in the world have, you’re not alone. With so many different businesses making so much money each year, it can be overwhelming to imagine all of the details that go into running one of these businesses, let alone trying to keep track of all of them at once! But fear not – here are the five richest and most powerful financial companies in the world, who do much more than just deal with money on a daily basis.
1) Goldman Sachs
Considered one of Wall Street’s most prestigious institutions, Goldman Sachs is also one of its most successful. The company was originally founded by two well-known bankers, Marcus Goldman and Samuel Sachs. Today, though it has expanded well beyond its humble roots, its headquarters are still located at 200 West Street in New York City’s Financial District. Goldman Sachs offers a wide range of services to both individual investors and large corporations, but is perhaps best known for its investment banking services. In fact, as recently as 2015, Forbes magazine named Goldman Sachs the most prestigious brand on Wall Street. It’s not hard to see why—the company has been involved in some very high profile deals over the years. For example, they helped raise money for Ford Motor Company during World War I and brokered a deal between AT&T Corporation and Bell Labs that led to a major technological breakthrough known as fiber optics.
2) Barclays
Barclays PLC is a British multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in London, England. In 2016 it was ranked 189th on Fortune Global 500 list. It is a universal bank with operations focused around four customer groups: personal, corporate, commercial banking, and wealth & investment management.
3) UBS
UBS AG is a Swiss global financial services company founded and headquartered in Switzerland, but with its largest office in London, United Kingdom. Its asset management business is one of the largest money managers in Europe. In Switzerland, UBS provides private banking services and investment advice. They have recently been exposed for helping wealthy individuals evade taxes to an estimated $100 billion USD (see UBS tax evasion controversy).
4) Bank of America
The Bank of America headquarters is located in Charlotte, North Carolina. It has more than 4,000 retail banking offices along with 15,000 ATMs. Bank of America started as BankAmericard Inc. in 1958. It became a subsidiary of Bancamerica Corporation a year later. In 1970, it became known as BankAmerica Corporation after it merged with BancAmerica National Corp. In 1998, it acquired NationsBank and changed its name to Bank of America Corp. In 2004, it bought FleetBoston Financial Corp., which resulted in its current name: Bank of America Corp. It has $1 trillion worth assets under management (AUM) and employs 80,000 people worldwide. Citibank: Citigroup Inc., or Citibank N.A., was founded by John Skelton Williams on September 24th 1812 as City Bank of New York.
5) Royal Bank of Scotland
The Royal Bank of Scotland is not just one of Britain’s biggest banks, but also one of its oldest. Founded in Edinburgh back in 1727, when it was called the Bank of Scotland, RBS (as it’s usually referred to) took its present name nearly two hundred years later. Its holdings include Citizens Financial Group, PNC Financial Services Group, Santander UK, NatWest and Ulster Bank.
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