The Forbes Global 2000 is arguably the most comprehensive list of the world's best public companies. It's a great, almost overwhelming view of the biggest companies of the world. And like any rankings of the top public-owned businesses in the world, there are quite a lot of franchises on the list.
Parsing the best franchises on this vast list is a task that Franchise Direct undertook recently. There are many franchise rankings out there - the Entrepreneur 500, the Franchise Direct Top 100 Global Franchises, etc, etc - but extracting the top franchises from the Forbes Global 2000 might be the closest thing to a definitive list of the biggest franchises in the world.
As Franchise Direct's Renee Bailey writes, the franchises that have reached the Forbes Global 2000 tend to be from three distinct categories: food, transport and lodging. On some level, it's a predictable selection. The likes of McDonald's, Yum! Brands, Tim Hortons, Marriot, Wyndham, 7-Eleven, and The UPS Store are all on our list of the Top 20 franchises from the Forbes Global 2000.
There are other fascinating brands here and this list shows just which franchises are making a dent in the global economy. At a time of ever-expanding globalization, it's incredible to see so many franchises making such an impact on an international scale.