Apple world's most valuable company in 2015. 100 leading companies quoted on the stock exchange in 2015 are now worth $16,245 billion, almost as much as US GDP, according to a new survey by PwC. They have almost doubled their stock market capitalisation since 2009 and their value increased by 8% over the course of a year, while the Top 100 companies paid their shareholders (dividends and share buybacks) no less than $689 billion. In total, PwC looked at 53 US companies in the Top 100 in 2015, as opposed to 42 companies in 2009. These companies are way ahead of the Chinese block (China and Hong Kong), which still have 11 companies (since 2009) and the United Kingdom (eight companies). France is in fifth place behind Germany, with four companies, three times fewer companies than 2009. The US company, Apple's growth is unparalleled, with stock market capitalisation (at the end of March 2015) of $725 billion, which is almost 8 times as much as in 2009. This company has experienced the strongest progress since 2009. Other companies making the strongest progress since 2009 were also US firms. With capitalisation of $375 billion, Google (US) is in second place, followed by Berkshire Hathaway ($357 billion; US), Wells Fargo ($280 billion; US) and in fifth place, Microsoft ($334 billion; US). Consumer technologies and services are the sectors where most progress has been made. On the other hand, the raw materials sector is one of the sectors that fell behind most between 2014 and 2015. The Top 5 of these companies are ExxonMobil, BHP Billiton, Royal Dutch Shell, BP and Total. These companies all lost between $36 and 59 billion in capitalisation. The PwC survey also reveals that the success of the major US companies has been driven by innovation and succeeding abroad. The 100th leading company accounted for $85 billion, as opposed to $40 billion in 2009 and the 13 Top 100 companies account for more than $250 billion in stock market capitalisation, as opposed to 2 in 2009. On average, they are worth $162 billion, as opposed to $84 billion, six years earlier. (Isabelle Lamberty)