Fortune Ranks Samsung Electronics within “World’s 50 Companies”

For the first time, a Korean company, Samsung Electronics, was ranked in the list of the World’s 50 “Global All-star Companies,” surveyed by Fortune, the U.S. business magazine.

The Samsung Group stated on Wednesday that Fortune, in the February 22 edition, placed Samsung Electronics at 39th place among the 50 most admired companies in the world, referred to as the “Global All-star Companies.”

Every year, Fortune selects companies for the “Global All-star Companies” list, evaluating based on innovations, sound finance, and the level of social responsibility, which are done according to the surveys conducted on chief executives, directors, and analysts.

Fortune evaluated Samsung, “Samsung Electronics, the first Korean company to make the list, is one of the world’s larger producers of memory chips and the third biggest manufacturer of cellular phones. It has transformed from a cheap electronic product manufacturing company to a leading high-tech global company.”

The first through third places for Global All-star Companies list were swept by U.S. companies such as General Electric (GE), Wal-Mart, and Dell, followed by Toyota, the Japanese automaker, in fifth place. Furthermore, the other Asian companies included were Sony (15th), Honda (19th), and Singapore Airlines (28th).

Samsung Electronics ranked higher than Exxon-Mobil (41st) and Siemens (43rd), and is shoulder-to-shoulder with companies such as Walt Disney (36th) and Dupont (37th).

Joong-Hyun Park sanjuck@donga.com