Good morning.
Another day, another list. Today, it’s the Fortune Future 50, which we have been doing since 2017 with the smart folks at Boston Consulting Group’s Henderson Institute. This one assesses 1,700 global public companies based on their long-term growth prospects, using a formula that includes market expectations but also a variety of other factors such as research and development spending, patent portfolios, relatively youthful and stable leadership, and lean corporate structures.
Tech companies dominate the list, which says something about where the world is headed. Snowflake, a data cloud company based in Bozeman, Montana, is at the top. The company is partnering with Nvidia to allow companies to develop AI models and applications on its platform. Some e-commerce companies also rank, including DoorDash (#9) and China’s trip.com (#37). Also on the list is Spotify (#48), which is interesting given the company’s recent announcement of layoffs. I was especially struck to see ServiceNow on this list (#19), as it was also on yesterday’s American Opportunity Index (#5). Any company so clearly focused on both the future and its employees deserves watching.
It’s also noteworthy that two Chinese electric vehicle companies–Li Auto (#5) and Nio (#13) made the list, as well as two Chinese battery companies–EVE Energy (#10) and CATL (#49). I’m in Macau this week, at the Fortune Brainstorm Design conference, and will be interviewing EV designers from two top Chinese manufacturers tomorrow–GAC and Jiyue. China continues to lead the world in EVs, producing well over half the global output this year. In his stunning and at times disturbing interview at the New York Times DealBook Conference recently (if you haven’t listened to it, you should, here), Elon Musk predicted that the top 10 EV firms in the future would include Tesla at the top, and then nine Chinese firms.
GM CEO Mary Barra, though struggling with weak EV demand at home, is determined to forge a different future. In her newsletter to employees this morning, Barra wrote:
“Historic transformations like ours don’t happen overnight…We are steadfast in our commitment to the electric, autonomous future, and are acting with purpose to successfully manage this critical point in our journey. We are transforming on our terms–with a clear vision, the courage of our convictions and confidence in our team.” You can explore the Future 50 here. Other news below.
Alan Murray
@alansmurray
alan.murray@fortune.com
