The world's 10 most powerful brands - 7. Wal-Mart

The world's 7th most powerful brand, Wal-Mart, is estimated to be worth $36.880 billion.

Wal-Mart Stores is an American public corporation and the world's largest retailer. It is the largest private employer, the largest grocery retailer, and the largest toy seller in the United States.





It was founded by Sam Walton, who opened his first Wal-Mart discount store in Rogers, Arkansas, in 1962. The company was incorporated on October 31, 1969, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1972. Sam Walton died on April 5, 1992 at the age of 74. His widow Helen R Walton, daughter Alice L Walton, and sons Jim C Walton, John T Walton and S Robson Walton, each with a personal wealth of $20.5 billion, have all been ranked among the richest Americans by Forbes.
H Lee Scott is Wal-Mart CEO, while S Robson Walton, is the retail giant's chairman.

The world's 10 most powerful brands - 6. Marlboro

Marlboro's brand value has been estimated at $39.166 billion, making it the 6th most powerful brand. Marlboro, made by Altria, is the world's best selling cigarette brand. It is famous for its billboard advertisements and magazine ads of the Marlboro Man.



Philip Morris, a London-based cigarette manufacturer, created a New York subsidiary in 1902 to sell several of its cigarette brands, including Marlboro. Marlboro then suddenly faltered badly in the market till the 1950s, when it made a rollicking comeback following the introduction of a new cowboy image for the brand. Sales skyrocketed by 5,000%. Marlboro with a filtered tip was launched in 1955.
The brand is named after Great Marlborough Street, the location of its original London factory. Richmond, Virginia, is now the location of the largest Marlboro cigarette manufacturing plant. Altria CEO & chairman is Louis Camilleri.

The world's 10 most powerful brands - 8. Citi

Citi is the world's 8th most powerful brand with an estimated value of $33.706 billion. Citigroup Inc was formed following the $140 billion merger of Citicorp and Travelers Group on April 7, 1998 to create the world's largest financial services organisation. The company employs almost 300,000 people around the world.



Travelers was founded in 1864 in Hartford, Connecticut. It dealt in insurance and is noted for many industry firsts: the first automobile policy, the first commercial airline policy, and the first policy for space travel. In the 1990s, it went through a series of mergers and acquisitions. It was bought by Primerica in 1993, but the resulting company retained the Travelers name. In 1995, it became The Travelers Group. It bought Aetna's property and casualty business in 1996.
Citicorp was the descendant of First National City Bank, founded in New York City. It was one of the oldest banks in the United States (founded in 1812), and had the largest international branch presence of any United States headquartered bank. In the 1960s and 1970s, chairman Walter Wriston led the bank into sovereign debt and loan syndication. It was Writsen who led the technology of ATM cards before the the banks. He also spearheaded the name change to Citibank in the late 1970s.

Charles Prince is the company's chairman & CEO.

The world's 10 most powerful brands - 5. China Mobile

China Mobile is the world's 5th most powerful brand with a value of $41.214 billion. China Mobile Communications Corporation, also known as China Mobile or CMCC, is China's largest mobile phone operator

It is the world's largest mobile phone operator ranked by number of subscribers, with over 296 million customers. By turnover it is second to Vodafone, which owns 3.3% of the China Mobile. A state-owned enterprise, it was spun off from former monopoly China Telecom in 2000, and now has a 65% share of the highly competitive Chinese mobile market. China Mobile is the largest company registered in Hong Kong.

Wang Jianzhou is the telecom major's chairman and CEO.