What It Is: This is an annual ranking of America's largest private companies.

Why It Matters To You: Take a look at the top performers in the private sector.

Considerations:  The ranking only includes firms that are privately or foreign owned and with revenue greater than $2 billion. There are a few other restrictions based on number/type of shareholders and type of business, which are important to consider when looking at the ranking. Data sources include voluntary disclosures by companies, Securities and Exchange Commission filing, and estimates from Forbes researchers and outside sources. Previous rankings are not easily accessible.

Created By: Forbes

What It Is: This annual list ranks high-growth, privately-held companies with under $300 million in annual revenue.

Why It Matters To You: Sizing up younger, privately held firms is tricky. This is a ranking of 100 up-and-comers with serious growth potential.

Considerations:  The ranking is based not only on growth (both in sales and hiring), but also on quality of management team and investors, margins, market size and key partnerships. It's unclear whether the ranking is still updated regularly as the last available ranking is from 2015. 

Created By: Forbes

What It Is: This is a ranking of the 100 most trustworthy companies in America.

Why It Matters To You: Take a look at the companies that rate the most trustworthy, based on accounting and governance practices.The list is sorted into three groups; large cap companies with market caps of $5 billion or more, mid cap companies between $1 and $5 billion, and small cap companies between $250 million and $1 billion.

Considerations:  The ranking is based on the strength of companies' accounting and governance risk ratings.  Factors considered include high risk behaviors like regulatory actions, amended filings, revenue and expense recognition methods, and bankruptcy risk. Previous rankings are not easily accessible.

Created By: Forbes

What It Is: This annual list highlights the 200 high-performing Asia-Pacific companies with revenue under $1 billion.

Why It Matters To You: In addition to highlighting companies with less than $1 billion in revenue, the list also highlights companies that demonstrate consistent top- and bottom-line growth. Easily sortable by industry and country.

Considerations: This list considers stock traded Asia-Pacific companies with annual revenue between $5 million and $1 billion with additional criteria for profitability, growth, and modest indebtedness. The resulting 200 produced the highest sales and earnings per share growth for both the most recent fiscal one- and three-year periods, and the strongest five-year average return on equity. Excluded companies include those that are thinly traded, those trading less than a year, and those with worrisome accounting, management, ownership or legal troubles. It Previous lists are not easily accessible.

Created By: Forbes

What It Is: This annual list honors the best big publicly traded companies throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

Why It Matters To You: This list looks at the corporate stars among Asia-Pacific's biggest listed companies. Easily sortable by industry and country.

Considerations: This ranking considers publicly traded companies that have at least $1.8 million in annual revenue, with companies that have a high debt ratio or that have more than 50% state-ownership not considered.

Created By: Forbes

What It Is: This is a series of rankings about the world's biggest public companies.

Why It Matters To You: See how some of the world's largest public companies rank against each other. Easily sortable by industry and country.

Considerations: The ranking is developed using data in four metrics: sales, profits, assets, and market value. Previous rankings are not easily accessible.

Created By: Forbes

What It Is: This is an annual list of the most innovative public companies with market values between $2 billion and $10 billion.

Why It Matters To You: Most innovation rankings are popularity contests based on past performance or editorial whims. Forbes attempts to forge a new path using a method that relies on investors’ ability to identify firms they expect to be innovative now and in the future. 

Considerations:  Companies are ranked by their innovation premium: the difference between their market capitalization and the net present value of cash flows from existing businesses. Only industries with a measurable investment in R&D and whose market value is tied more to innovation than commodity prices are included in the ranking. Previous rankings are not easily accessible.

Created By: Forbes

What It Is: This is a list of America's best small companies.

Why It Matters To You: See which companies value greatness over growth in an unranked list of the top 25 best small companies. Easily sortable by industry and state.

Considerations:  The methodology is not clearly defined, but companies up for consideration are recognized for prioritizing building a great business over growth and must be at least ten years old, profitable, privately owned, and closely held. Intangibles such as reputation, culture, and relationship to the community are the major factors.

Created By: Forbes

What It Is: This is an annual list consists of firms that investors feel are most likely to come up with the next big innovation. 

Why It Matters To You: This ranking demonstrates how new players come in to shake up industries, innovate, and garner the attention of investors. Easily sortable by industry and region.

Considerations:  Companies are ranked by their innovation premium: the difference between their market capitalization and the net present value of cash flows from existing businesses. To be included on the list, firms need seven years of financial data and $10 billion in market cap. 

Created By: Forbes

What It Is: This is a ranking of banking firms for cross-industry prestige, based on insider information from verified employees in the banking industry.

Why It Matters To You: See how top investment banks rank in prestige versus top private equity firms, hedge funds, and asset management companies.

Considerations: The ranking only considers prestige and is based on the opinions of survey respondents ranking firms that they were familiar with. It is also important to note that this ranking has only been produced for one year previously and it is unclear whether it will be updated in the future.

Created By: Vault
 

What It Is: This ranking provides a who's who of accounting firms.

Why It Matters To You: Accounting professionals across the nation rank the prestige of the firms they compete against.

Considerations: Survey respondents were asked to rate each firm in the survey on a scale of 1 to 10 based on prestige. They were unable to rate their own firm, and they were asked to rate only those firms with which they were familiar. It is important to note that prestige was the only metric considered.

Created By: Vault
 

What It Is: This ranking provides a who's who of banking firms.

Why It Matters To You: Banking professionals across the nation rank the prestige of the firms they compete against.

Considerations: Survey respondents were asked to rate each firm in the survey on a scale of 1 to 10 based on prestige. They were unable to rate their own firm, and they were asked to rate only those firms with which they were familiar. It is important to note that prestige was the only metric considered.

Created By: Vault