Brands - The most expensive thing you can buy - Interbrand Rankings

So three of my colleagues and I were stranded in the waiting lounge at Heathrow airport on Sunday, waiting for our plane to board. And we were bored. So I showed them my blog and we started talking about the theme. We talked about what the mega rich can buy with all that money and the subject changed to the most expensive stuff in the world. I told them about Updown Court, Lakshmi Mittal’s house and what the prices are on Gulfstreams and Mega Yachts.

Then Charl, our South African colleague raised an interesting point. These tangible luxuries are NOT the most expensive stuff a billionaire can acquire. They are mere fractions in comparison to the most expensive item you can buy: A brand.

The top brands in the world are worth billions. They are merely a design with brand value connected to it: Totally intangible. This made me go and look at the Interbrand ranking list again. I used their rankings in my studies at university and almost forgot what an interesting read it actually is. For that reason, I’m posting the 2006 ranking for you guys. As far as I know, the 2007 rankings have yet to be announced.

Billionaires’ worth are actually in large part comprised of a brand’s worth. Donald Tump’s name is so valuable, that it could sell almost any piece of property. So when they measure his net worth, they factor in what his brand name is worth. This is NOT money in the bank though: He has to sell that brand before he can see it in his bank account.

Interesting, right? These brands can be worth as much as $67 billion. Take Microsoft: And you wonder why Bill Gates is so rich? Take Warren Buffett as an example. He has a stake in Coca-Cola and Budweiser, two of the brands in the top 100. Billionaires get richer, the more people value their brands. Look at Louis Vuitton. Their monogram designs have catapulted them into top 20.

So forget the $200 million mega yacht, the $130 million house and $100 private jet. Or even the $70 million private island. Go and buy a multi-BILLION dollar brand!

The Interband ranking list for 2006. Just see which brand made the top 100.

Rank, Brand $million
1 Coca-Cola 67,000
2 Microsoft 56,926
3 IBM 56,201
4 GE 48,907
5 Intel 32,319
6 Nokia 30,131
7 Toyota 27,941
8 Disney 27,848
9 McDonald’s 27,501
10 Mercedes 21,795
11 Citi 21,458
12 Marlboro 21,350
13 Hewlett-Packard 20,458
14 American Express 19,641
15 BMW 19,617
16 Gillette 19,579
17 Louis Vuitton 17,606
18 Cisco 17,532
19 Honda 17,049
20 Samsung 16,169
21 Merrill Lynch 13,001
22 Pepsi 12,690
23 Nescafé 12,507
24 Google 12,376
25 Dell 12,256
26 Sony 11,695
27 Budweiser 11,662
28 HSBC 11,622
29 Oracle 11,459
30 Ford 11,056
31 Nike 10,897
32 UPS 10,712
33 JPMorgan 10,205
34 SAP 10,007
35 Canon 9,968
36 Morgan Stanley 9,762
37 Goldman Sachs 9,640
38 Pfizer 9,591
39 Apple 9,130
40 Kellogg’s 8,776
41 Ikea 8,763
42 UBS 8,734
43 Novartis 7,880
44 Siemens 7,828
45 Harley-Davidson 7,739
46 Gucci 7,158
47 eBay 6,755
48 Philips 6,730
49 Accenture 6,728
50 MTV 6,627
51 Nintendo 6,559
52 Gap 6,416
53 L’Oreal 6,392
54 Heinz 6,223
55 Yahoo! 6,056
56 Volkswagen 6,032
57 Xerox 5,918
58 Colgate 5,633
59 Wrigley’s 5,449
60 KFC 5,350
61 Chanel 5,156
62 Avon 5,040
63 Nestlé 4,932
64 Kleenex 4,842
65 Amazon.com 4,707
66 Pizza Hut 4,694
67 Danone 4,638
68 Caterpillar 4,580
69 Motorola 4,569
70 Kodak 4,406
71 adidas 4,290
72 Rolex 4,237
73 Zara 4,235
74 Audi 4,165
75 Hyundai 4,078
76 BP 4,010
77 Panasonic 3,977
78 Reuters 3,961
79 Kraft 3,943
80 Porsche 3,927
81 Hermés 3,854
82 Tiffany & Co. 3,819
83 Hennessy 3,576
84 Duracell 3,576
85 ING 3,474
86 Cartier 3,360
87 Moet & Chandon 3,257
88 Johnson & Johnson 3,193
89 Shell 3,173
90 Nissan 3,108
91 Starbucks 3,099
92 Lexus 3,070
93 Smirnoff 3,032
94 LG 3,010
95 Bulgari 2,875
96 Prada 2,874
97 Armani 2,783
98 Burberry 2,783
99 Nivea 2,692
100 Levi’s 2,689