The Most Profitable Companies in the World.

Byline: Katharina Buchholz

Apple has long been known as the world's most profitable company, but those days are over. By preparing to be publicly listed, Saudi state oil company Saudi Aramco had to disclose company reports and was subsequentially rated by Moody's to have earned US$111.1 billion in 2018, far surpassing competitors. Currently, Saudi Aramco is taking a second swing at an IPO.

In fact, the Saudi company's net profit equaled that of Apple, Google parent company Alphabet and Exxon Mobil combined, according to Bloomberg. Previously, Saudi Aramco's accounts had remained mostly secret since the company was...