20 Examples of Transnational Companies


The transnational companies or multinationals are large corporations created and registered in a country and then spread throughout the world through the opening of subsidiaries or franchises, whose income system, although it has local people as labor and consumer public, consists of returning the capital produced towards the country of origin. For instance: Apple, Samsung, Petrobras.

Strongly linked to globalizing trends and of global exchange, their role as agents of cultural and business hegemony has often been highly questioned, since their strategies of maximizing income and reducing costs have often led to unscrupulous and even illegal policies.

Transnationals are a unquestionable entrepreneurial strength globally, based on its marketing and advertising strategies, as well as its high turnover of materials that takes advantage of the resources (human and natural) of one location and markets its products in another.

For this reason, and because of their specific model of enrichment through capital migration, their opponents prefer to call them transnationals and no multinationals, considering this last term as misleading, since they do not promote development to the same extent in all parts of the world where they nest.

Examples of transnational companies

  1. Manzana. Of American origin, he is dedicated to the computer and electronic field, especially the creation of various hardware and accessories. She is the creator of the famous iPod, iPad, iPhone and Macintosh products.
  2. Samsung. Born in South Korea, it is one of the largest telephony, electronics and information technology corporations: cell phones, televisions, LED and LCD screens and computer chips.
  3. Volkswagen Group. This German motor vehicle company is one of the largest of its kind in the world, owner of the brands Audi, Porsche, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT and many others.
  4. Walmart Stores. American retail corporation that operates through chains of giant discount stores. It is the one with the highest percentage of private employment in the world.
  5. Royal Dutch Shell. The well-known Anglo-Dutch hydrocarbons company has its interests in the oil and natural gas world, and is one of the world’s largest transnationals: the one with the largest monetary flow of all.
  6. General Electric. Energy, water, health, private financing, financial services and diversified media are the sectors in which this American company intervenes, present in more than 100 countries and with more than 300,000 employees globally.
  7. Exxon-Mobil. Founded as the Standard Oil Company in 1889, this US hydrocarbon company extends its activities in oil exploration, refining, manufacturing and marketing of petroleum products and natural gas throughout 40 countries.
  8. HSBC Holdings. Acronyms for The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, headquartered in London, England, this banking transnational is one of the largest suppliers of banking and financial services, and the second in the world in terms of shares, with 80% of shareholders from the United Kingdom.
  9. AT&T. American Telephone & Telegraph is an American telecommunications company, considered the largest cable operator in the US and one of the largest in the sector on the planet.
  10. Petrobras. Petroleo Brasileiro SA is a semi-public South American corporation, which means a majority state participation and private foreign participation. It is actively engaged in the international oil market and the commercialization of its derivatives, in which sector it ranks fourth worldwide.
  11. Citigroup. The largest banking company in the world is American, and has in its history the achievement of having been the first to combine insurance and finance after the Great Depression of 1929.
  12. BP (British Petroleum). British company of energy and exploitation of hydrocarbons, eighth in its category worldwide according to the magazine Forbes, and third in the world in the private oil market after ExxonMobil and Shell.
  13. ICBC. Acronym for Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, it is an Asian colossus of the state-owned banking sector. It is considered the largest bank in the world in terms of market value, deposits, and the most profitable in existence.
  14. Wells Fargo & Co. Of American origin, it is the fourth largest bank in the United States and one of the largest in the world. It also offers a diversified range of financial services with operators around the world.
  15. MacDonald’s. A North American fast food chain (hamburgers, soft drinks and sweets) spread over 119 countries of the world in 35,000 establishments that employ 1.7 million people. It is an iconic company in the transnational sector and has often been criticized and condemned, holding it responsible for the food damage caused to young people worldwide.
  16. Total Fine. A business consortium of the petrochemical and energy sector of French origin, present in more than 130 countries and employing some 111,000 people.
  17. OAO Gazprom. The largest natural gas extractor in the world and the largest company in Russia, it was founded in 1989 and is controlled by the Russian state. It has 415,000 employees and annual sales of $ 31 billion.
  18. Chevron. An American company in the oil industry founded in 1911, it is the fifth largest monetary company in the world, owning oil and natural gas fields, cargo ships and specialized refineries.
  19. Allianz. The largest European insurance group and one of the largest in the world is of German origin, linked to almost all the large companies on the continent. After acquiring AGF and RAS, it was renamed Allianz Global Assistance.
  20. Monsanto. The US transnational agrochemicals and biotechnology for agriculture is a world leader in the field of genetically engineered seeds and herbicide production. Numerous allegations of impoverishment of the genetic pool, harmful side effects to health and food imperialism are held worldwide against him. Even so, it has 25,500 workers worldwide.