Christian Dior tops as a retailer in Forbes annual list of the “world’s largest public companies”, known as the Global 2000 list. The massive report is being released for the 16th consecutive year and counts high-profile household names like JPMorgan Chase, Berkshire Hathaway, Bank of America, Apple and Chase among its top-ten rankings. In general, Christian Dior is ranked as the world’s 150th largest company.
The second-largest retailer in the apparel, accessories and footwear space is Zara and Nike comes in third place.
Christian Dior definitively takes the top spot with a market value of $76.4 billion USD, with a combined score of revenues, profits, assets and market value higher than any similar numbers for other companies in its lane.
The fashion house benefits from a 41 per cent stake in LVMH, the French luxury empire that owns 70 brands including Louis Vuitton, Dom Pérignon and Sephora. LVMH, which is run by French billionaire Bernard Arnault, in turn wholly owns Christian Dior. The companies have had a complicated ownership structure for years, with LVMH acquiring the remaining portion of Christian Dior that it didn't already own last year in a $13 billion deal.
The Oregon-based company, which was founded in 1964 by college track runner Phil Knight and his coach, initially distributed Japanese running shoes. It found success in sponsoring legendary athletes like Michael Jordan, Roger Federer and Lance Armstrong and is now the world's largest athletic retailer with annual sales of $35 billion.
