In This Issue Vol. 27 Issue 33

PROFILE ON: THE WORLD'S MOST POWERFUL TECH COMPANY THE NOT-SO-SECRET SAUCE HOW DOES IT WORK? WHO USES ALADDIN? LAYING THE GROUNDWORK FOR PLATFORM GROWTH THE NETWORK EFFECTS OF THAT MUCH CAPITAL FINANCIAL LEVERAGE OVER OTHER FIRMS BLACKROCK'S FINANCIAL OUTLOOK MORE FROM SNS MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: James Balog OUR PARTNERS WHERE'S MARK?

Profile On: The World's Most Powerful Tech Platform

By Berit Anderson

Why Read: This week's issue explains the business strategy and accelerating network effects of the world's most powerful tech platform - and why you've probably never considered it as such.

 

What's the most powerful technology company in the world? Is it Apple? Amazon?

Perusing the usual Top Ten lists, focus tends to be on company characteristics such as market cap, revenues, profits, and assets. Unsurprisingly, Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, and Tesla are among those that top the charts.

Source: Global Finance Magazine

But what if, instead of focusing on classical business metrics, we measured influence - the ability of a company to shape markets, influence other firms, drive the behavior of banks and governments?

What company would top that list?

A few hints: 

• A company that doesn't have the world's largest market cap - coming in at $101.93 billion as of September 7, 2022.
• A company that's not generally even considered a tech company.
• A company that gets comparatively little media attention and has largely escaped the recent DOJ scrutiny directed at Google, Alphabet, and Meta.
• A company perhaps even with financials that, while impressive, don't measure up to the revenues and profits of the top global companies touted by Fortune and Forbes.

With one exception.

As of September 6, 2022, it's a company that has $8.5 trillion in assets under management - far surpassing the potential financial influence of Apple ($321B in assets) and Amazon ($421B) combined.

And it's a company whose proprietary AI platform influences the financial decision making of governments, banks, investment managers, wealth managers, and beyond, representing tens of trillions of dollars.