Where Do the Top 100 Companies Incorporate?

Everyone assumes every major company incorporates in Delaware. The reality is more nuanced. Here's a full breakdown of incorporation choices across the 100 largest US-listed public companies by market cap.

100

Companies analyzed

Top 100 by market cap

$35.0T

Total market cap

mid-2025 snapshot

75%

Incorporated in Delaware

75 of 100 companies

$23.1T

Delaware market cap

of total captured value

Other states used

California, Florida, Illinois…

State of Incorporation Breakdown

How many of the top 100 chose each state — and what share of total market cap they represent.

Delaware

75 co. (75%) · $23.1T

3 co. (3%) · $3.4T

3 co. (3%) · $1.2T

3 co. (3%) · $510B

2 co. (2%) · $910B

2 co. (2%) · $510B

2 co. (2%) · $200B

2 co. (2%) · $370B

1 co. (1%) · $3.1T

1 co. (1%) · $650B

1 co. (1%) · $300B

1 co. (1%) · $180B

1 co. (1%) · $130B

1 co. (1%) · $140B

1 co. (1%) · $100B

1 co. (1%) · $100B

Bar width is proportional to company count. Market cap figures are approximate mid-2025 snapshots.

Full Company List

SearchState of IncorporationSector

100 of 100

#	Company	Ticker	Market Cap	Sector	State of Incorp	HQ State	Type	Guide
1	Apple	AAPL	$3.1T	Technology	California	California	C-Corp	Guide
2	NVIDIA	NVDA	$3.0T	Technology	Delaware	California	C-Corp	Guide
3	Microsoft	MSFT	$2.9T	Technology	Washington	Washington	C-Corp	Guide
4	Alphabet	GOOGL	$2.0T	Technology	Delaware	California	C-Corp	Guide
5	Amazon	AMZN	$1.9T	Technology	Delaware	Washington	C-Corp	Guide
6	Meta Platforms	META	$1.5T	Technology	Delaware	California	C-Corp	Guide
7	Berkshire Hathaway	BRK.A	$1.0T	Financial Services	Delaware	Nebraska	C-Corp	Guide
8	Eli Lilly	LLY	$800B	Healthcare	Indiana	Indiana	C-Corp	Guide
9	Broadcom	AVGO	$750B	Technology	Delaware	California	C-Corp	Guide
10	Walmart	WMT	$700B	Retail	Delaware	Arkansas	C-Corp	Guide
11	JPMorgan Chase	JPM	$680B	Financial Services	Delaware	New York	C-Corp	Guide
12	Teslaⓘ	TSLA	$650B	Automotive	Texas	Texas	C-Corp	Guide
13	Visa	V	$580B	Financial Services	Delaware	California	C-Corp	Guide
14	UnitedHealth Group	UNH	$560B	Healthcare	Delaware	Minnesota	C-Corp	Guide
15	Exxon Mobil	XOM	$530B	Energy	New Jersey	Texas	C-Corp	Guide
16	Mastercard	MA	$480B	Financial Services	Delaware	New York	C-Corp	Guide
17	Oracle	ORCL	$470B	Technology	Delaware	Texas	C-Corp	Guide
18	Costco Wholesale	COST	$430B	Retail	Washington	Washington	C-Corp	Guide
19	Johnson & Johnson	JNJ	$400B	Healthcare	New Jersey	New Jersey	C-Corp	Guide
20	Netflix	NFLX	$380B	Technology	Delaware	California	C-Corp	Guide
21	Home Depot	HD	$375B	Retail	Delaware	Georgia	C-Corp	Guide
22	Procter & Gamble	PG	$370B	Consumer Goods	Ohio	Ohio	C-Corp	Guide
23	AbbVie	ABBV	$350B	Healthcare	Delaware	Illinois	C-Corp	Guide
24	Bank of America	BAC	$365B	Financial Services	Delaware	North Carolina	C-Corp	Guide
25	Salesforce	CRM	$320B	Technology	Delaware	California	C-Corp	Guide
26	Abbott Laboratories	ABT	$300B	Healthcare	Illinois	Illinois	C-Corp	Guide
27	Merck & Co	MRK	$290B	Healthcare	New Jersey	New Jersey	C-Corp	Guide
28	Chevron	CVX	$290B	Energy	Delaware	California	C-Corp	Guide
29	Goldman Sachs	GS	$220B	Financial Services	Delaware	New York	C-Corp	Guide
30	AMD	AMD	$250B	Technology	Delaware	California	C-Corp	Guide
31	Intuitive Surgical	ISRG	$240B	Healthcare	Delaware	California	C-Corp	Guide
32	ServiceNow	NOW	$220B	Technology	Delaware	California	C-Corp	Guide
33	Wells Fargo	WFC	$220B	Financial Services	Delaware	California	C-Corp	Guide
34	Thermo Fisher Scientific	TMO	$210B	Healthcare	Delaware	Massachusetts	C-Corp	Guide
35	Walt Disney	DIS	$210B	Media	Delaware	California	C-Corp	Guide
36	McDonald's	MCD	$210B	Consumer Services	Delaware	Illinois	C-Corp	Guide
37	Morgan Stanley	MS	$200B	Financial Services	Delaware	New York	C-Corp	Guide
38	American Express	AXP	$200B	Financial Services	New York	New York	C-Corp	Guide
39	Caterpillar	CAT	$190B	Industrials	Delaware	Illinois	C-Corp	Guide
40	Texas Instruments	TXN	$190B	Technology	Delaware	Texas	C-Corp	Guide
41	Qualcomm	QCOM	$190B	Technology	Delaware	California	C-Corp	Guide
42	Applied Materials	AMAT	$180B	Technology	Delaware	California	C-Corp	Guide
43	Philip Morris Intl	PM	$180B	Consumer Goods	Virginia	Connecticut	C-Corp	Guide
44	Verizon Communications	VZ	$170B	Telecom	Delaware	New York	C-Corp	Guide
45	Intuit	INTU	$170B	Technology	Delaware	California	C-Corp	Guide
46	Pfizer	PFE	$170B	Healthcare	Delaware	New York	C-Corp	Guide
47	Booking Holdings	BKNG	$160B	Technology	Delaware	Connecticut	C-Corp	Guide
48	Danaher	DHR	$140B	Industrials	Delaware	Washington DC	C-Corp	Guide
49	Raytheon Technologies	RTX	$160B	Defense	Delaware	Connecticut	C-Corp	Guide
50	Union Pacific	UNP	$130B	Transportation	Utah	Nebraska	C-Corp	Guide
51	ConocoPhillips	COP	$130B	Energy	Delaware	Texas	C-Corp	Guide
52	Honeywell International	HON	$130B	Industrials	Delaware	North Carolina	C-Corp	Guide
53	T-Mobile US	TMUS	$250B	Telecom	Delaware	Kansas	C-Corp	Guide
54	Palo Alto Networks	PANW	$120B	Technology	Delaware	California	C-Corp	Guide
55	Cisco Systems	CSCO	$240B	Technology	Delaware	California	C-Corp	Guide
56	NextEra Energy	NEE	$140B	Utilities	Florida	Florida	C-Corp	Guide
57	Gilead Sciences	GILD	$120B	Healthcare	Delaware	California	C-Corp	Guide
58	General Electric Aero	GE	$210B	Industrials	New York	Ohio	C-Corp	Guide
59	Lockheed Martin	LMT	$130B	Defense	Maryland	Maryland	C-Corp	Guide
60	BlackRock	BLK	$160B	Financial Services	Delaware	New York	C-Corp	Guide
61	Automatic Data Processing	ADP	$110B	Technology	Delaware	New Jersey	C-Corp	Guide
62	Elevance Health	ELV	$110B	Healthcare	Indiana	Indiana	C-Corp	Guide
63	Progressive Corporation	PGR	$140B	Insurance	Ohio	Ohio	C-Corp	Guide
64	Cigna Group	CI	$90B	Healthcare	Delaware	Connecticut	C-Corp	Guide
65	HCA Healthcare	HCA	$90B	Healthcare	Delaware	Tennessee	C-Corp	Guide
66	Starbucks	SBUX	$100B	Consumer Services	Washington	Washington	C-Corp	Guide
67	Regeneron Pharmaceuticals	REGN	$100B	Healthcare	New York	New York	C-Corp	Guide
68	Lowe's Companies	LOW	$150B	Retail	North Carolina	North Carolina	C-Corp	Guide
69	Arista Networks	ANET	$110B	Technology	Delaware	California	C-Corp	Guide
70	Uber Technologies	UBER	$130B	Technology	Delaware	California	C-Corp	Guide
71	KLA Corporation	KLAC	$90B	Technology	Delaware	California	C-Corp	Guide
72	Lam Research	LRCX	$100B	Technology	Delaware	California	C-Corp	Guide
73	Micron Technology	MU	$100B	Technology	Delaware	Idaho	C-Corp	Guide
74	Zoetis	ZTS	$80B	Healthcare	Delaware	New Jersey	C-Corp	Guide
75	Colgate-Palmolive	CL	$70B	Consumer Goods	Delaware	New York	C-Corp	Guide
76	PepsiCo	PEP	$220B	Consumer Goods	North Carolina	New York	C-Corp	Guide
77	Palantir Technologies	PLTR	$200B	Technology	Delaware	Colorado	C-Corp	Guide
78	Marriott International	MAR	$70B	Hospitality	Maryland	Maryland	C-Corp	Guide
79	Synopsys	SNPS	$80B	Technology	Delaware	California	C-Corp	Guide
80	Motorola Solutions	MSI	$70B	Technology	Delaware	Illinois	C-Corp	Guide
81	CrowdStrike	CRWD	$100B	Technology	Delaware	Texas	C-Corp	Guide
82	Workday	WDAY	$70B	Technology	Delaware	California	C-Corp	Guide
83	Airbnb	ABNB	$70B	Technology	Delaware	California	C-Corp	Guide
84	Fortinet	FTNT	$60B	Technology	Delaware	California	C-Corp	Guide
85	Datadog	DDOG	$50B	Technology	Delaware	New York	C-Corp	Guide
86	Snowflake	SNOW	$60B	Technology	Delaware	California	C-Corp	Guide
87	Microchip Technology	MCHP	$40B	Technology	Delaware	Arizona	C-Corp	Guide
88	DoorDash	DASH	$50B	Technology	Delaware	California	C-Corp	Guide
89	Coinbase Global	COIN	$50B	Financial Services	Delaware	California	C-Corp	Guide
90	Block	SQ	$40B	Financial Services	Delaware	California	C-Corp	Guide
91	Fair Isaac (FICO)	FICO	$50B	Technology	Delaware	California	C-Corp	Guide
92	Chubb	CB	$110B	Insurance	Delaware	New Jersey	C-Corp	Guide
93	Fiserv	FI	$100B	Financial Services	Wisconsin	Wisconsin	C-Corp	Guide
94	Amphenol	APH	$80B	Technology	Delaware	Connecticut	C-Corp	Guide
95	Illinois Tool Works	ITW	$70B	Industrials	Delaware	Illinois	C-Corp	Guide
96	Analog Devices	ADI	$100B	Technology	Massachusetts	Massachusetts	C-Corp	Guide
97	EOG Resources	EOG	$60B	Energy	Delaware	Texas	C-Corp	Guide
98	CME Group	CME	$80B	Financial Services	Delaware	Illinois	C-Corp	Guide
99	Intercontinental Exchange	ICE	$80B	Financial Services	Delaware	Georgia	C-Corp	Guide
100	S&P Global	SPGI	$140B	Financial Services	Delaware	New York	C-Corp	Guide

Why Do So Many Companies Choose Delaware?

Court of Chancery

Delaware has a specialized business court with no juries. Cases are decided by experienced judges called chancellors. This predictability is invaluable for multi-billion-dollar disputes, M&A deal certainty, and shareholder rights litigation.

Established Corporate Law

150+ years of Delaware corporate case law means lawyers can predict outcomes. For a company raising VC, doing an IPO, or executing a merger, legal certainty is worth far more than a lower filing fee in another state.

Flexible Capital Structure

Delaware allows companies to issue multiple classes of stock with different voting rights — the standard structure for VC-backed startups that need founder control shares and investor preferred stock.

No State Corporate Income Tax on Out-of-State Profits

If a Delaware-incorporated company doesn't operate in Delaware, it pays no Delaware corporate income tax on those profits. This is especially relevant for holding companies and IP-holding entities.

What About Apple (California), Costco (Washington), and Eli Lilly (Indiana)?

Companies that incorporate in their home state typically do so for simplicity, historical reasons, or because their operations are deeply state-specific. Apple was founded in California and incorporated there. Costco is a Pacific Northwest institution. Eli Lilly has been headquartered in Indiana since 1876.

Note that none of these are LLCs — they are C-Corporations. The factors that make Delaware attractive to a Fortune 100 C-Corp are largely irrelevant to a small LLC owner. A California LLC that only operates locally doesn't benefit from Delaware's Court of Chancery.

Incorporated in Delaware, HQ Elsewhere: What's a Foreign Qualification?

Amazon is incorporated in Delaware but operates out of Seattle, Washington. This means Amazon is a domestic corporation in Delaware and a foreign corporation in Washington — it must file for Foreign Qualification in every state where it has offices, employees, or physical operations.

For a small LLC owner, this is the key reason the "just incorporate in Delaware" advice often backfires: if you live and work in California, you'll pay California's $800 annual LLC tax regardless of your state of incorporation — plus Delaware's annual franchise tax. You end up paying twice. Learn more about where to form your LLC →