Most Valuable Brands, 2000 vs 2025: Who Left the Top 10 (Interbrand)

Interbrand publishes Best Global Brands once a year: a list of 100 brands ranked by its own estimate of brand value. That estimate is a present-value style figure for the brand itself. It is not the company's market capitalization and not its revenue. The 2000 edition was not the first; Interbrand had already published a ranking for 1999. The method has been refined over the years, so each value in this post is the one published in that year's edition, in US dollars, not adjusted for inflation.

The 2000 top 10 was Coca-Cola ($72.5 billion), Microsoft ($70.2 billion), IBM ($53.2 billion), Intel ($39.0 billion), Nokia, GE ($38.1 billion), Ford ($36.4 billion), Disney ($33.6 billion), McDonald's ($27.9 billion) and AT&T. Interbrand's own database does not carry Nokia and AT&T for that year. Their values, $38.5 billion and $25.5 billion, are reported from a copy of Interbrand's 2001 table, which lists the 2000 figures next to the 2001 ones.

Seven of those ten are out of the 2025 top 10. Intel went from 4th to 71st, with a 2025 value of $11.5 billion. IBM went from 3rd to 22nd, at $39.4 billion. Disney's value rose from $33.6 billion to $41.4 billion, yet it moved from 8th to 17th. Nokia, Ford and AT&T are not in the 2025 top 100, and GE is now listed as GE Aerospace, at 44th.

The seven newcomers explain where the top seats went. Apple was 36th in 2000, at $6.6 billion; its 2025 value is about 71 times higher (computed). Amazon rose by a similar multiple, from $4.5 billion at 48th to $319.9 billion at 3rd. Samsung went from $5.2 billion to $90.5 billion. Google, first ranked in 2005, is 4th at $317.1 billion, and Instagram, first ranked in 2020, is 8th at $57.3 billion. Toyota ($74.2 billion) and Mercedes-Benz ($50.1 billion) complete the list.

A common reading is that a brand which drops out of the top 10 has lost value. The checked figures show a different picture. Disney's estimate grew and it still moved down nine places, as other brands' estimates rose further. Coca-Cola, number one in every Interbrand edition from 2000 to 2012, is 7th in 2025 at $60.1 billion, 17% lower than in 2000 before inflation. In rank terms, it moved down six places while six brands passed it.

Only Coca-Cola, Microsoft and McDonald's are in both lists. Microsoft rose from $70.2 billion to $388.5 billion, about 5.5 times (computed), and was 2nd in both years. McDonald's went from $27.9 billion to $53.0 billion, up 90% (computed), and was 9th in both years. Apple has been number one in every edition from 2013 to 2025. As of October 20, 2026, the 2026 edition had not been published, so these 2025 figures are the latest.

A top 10 has a fixed number of seats. When a few brands' estimated values multiply many times over, older leaders can lose their places even when their own values change little or rise.

Watch the short video: YouTube