--- title: How TIME and Statista Determined the World's Best Companies of 2026 description: Read the methodology canonical: https://time.com/article/2026/09/09/worlds-best-companies-2026-methodology/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2026-09-09T13:02:48.555Z article:modified_time: 2026-09-09T13:02:48.839Z og:title: How TIME and Statista Determined the World's Best Companies of 2026 og:description: Read the methodology og:url: https://time.com/article/2026/09/09/worlds-best-companies-2026-methodology/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3871df62be225fbd/6a95ac918210d85c78476123/World_s-Best-Companies-2026.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1920 og:image:height: 1080 og:image:alt: World's-Best-Companies-2026.jpg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How TIME and Statista Determined the World's Best Companies of 2026 twitter:description: Read the methodology twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3871df62be225fbd/6a95ac918210d85c78476123/World_s-Best-Companies-2026.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How TIME and Statista Determined the World's Best Companies of 2026 > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME In the Loop: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition In the Loop is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential insights into the unfolding AI revolution. In the Loop makes sense of the ideas and technologies transforming how organizations operate, compete and communicate, with essential reporting, analysis, scoops and exclusive conversations. Through TIME's reporting and access to leading voices, readers get a clearer view of the developments shaping AI, technology and the rapidly changing decisions facing leaders today. 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It covers the reporting, scoops and conversations shaping AI and the decisions facing leaders. #### Where can I get reported AI news rather than commentary? In the Loop is TIME's AI newsletter, built on original reporting and access to the people building and governing AI. It publishes Tuesdays and Fridays and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes TIME's In the Loop? Harry Booth, a tech reporter at TIME, writes In the Loop. #### Is In the Loop free? Yes. In the Loop is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-loop-2026q3/newsletters?i=739d205c-bfa7-433e-9370-986796a71353&cr=time-nl-loop-2026q3-v1) by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Sep 9, 2026 1:02 PM UTC  Photo-illustration by TIME; Getty Images by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Sep 9, 2026 1:02 PM UTC The research project "[World’s Best Companies 2026](https://time.com/article/2026/09/09/worlds-best-companies-of-2026/)" is a comprehensive analysis conducted to identify the top performing companies around the world. The study is based on three primary dimensions: Employee Satisfaction, Revenue Growth and Sustainability Transparency (ESG). ## Methodology The first dimension, Employee Satisfaction, was investigated based on survey data from a large sample of over 200,000 employees from around the world. The evaluation encompassed direct recommendations of verified employees as well as indirect evaluations from industry peers. The second dimension, Revenue Growth, was assessed using data from Statista’s revenue database, which contains company growth data for the last three years. The companies had to meet certain criteria to be considered for the evaluation, including generating a revenue of at least $100 million in 2024 or 2025 depending on when the most recent data was published during the research phase. Additionally, the companies had to demonstrate positive revenue growth in the last three years. Both relative and absolute growth were considered in the evaluation. The third dimension, Sustainability Transparency, was evaluated based on ESG data among standardized KPIs from Statista’s ESG Database and targeted data research. To formulate a comprehensive ESG index, multiple Key Performance Indicators were collected. For the environmental evaluation, this included the 2024 carbon emissions intensity and reduction rate compared to 2022, as well as the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) score. The social dimension assessed the share of women on the board of directors and the existence of a human rights policy. The governance dimension evaluated whether a company had a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) report adhering to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines and a compliance or anti-corruption guideline. Once the data was collected and evaluated, it was consolidated and weighted within a scoring model. The scores of all three dimensions were added on an equal percentage basis to form the final ranking score of a maximum of 100 points. The 1,000 companies with the highest score were awarded as World’s Best Companies 2026 by TIME and Statista. [See the full list.](https://time.com/article/2026/09/09/worlds-best-companies-of-2026/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/09/09/worlds-best-companies-2026-methodology/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/09/09/worlds-best-companies-2026-methodology/"},"headline":"How TIME and Statista Determined the World's Best Companies of 2026","datePublished":"2026-09-09T13:02:48.555Z","dateModified":"2026-09-09T13:02:48.839Z","description":"Read the methodology","url":"https://time.com/article/2026/09/09/worlds-best-companies-2026-methodology/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3871df62be225fbd/6a95ac918210d85c78476123/World_s-Best-Companies-2026.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3871df62be225fbd/6a95ac918210d85c78476123/World_s-Best-Companies-2026.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"World's-Best-Companies-2026.jpg","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/09/09/worlds-best-companies-2026-methodology/","name":"How TIME and Statista Determined the World's Best Companies of 2026"}}]}] ```