Forbes

Forbes' annual Best States For Business ranks U.S. states based on measures of six categories relevant to businesses: costs, labor supply, regulatory environment, current economic climate, growth prospects and quality of life. Forbes factors in 40 metrics from 17 sources to determine the ranks across the six main areas. The overall scores are based on a combination of ranks in the six main categories.

Data cited at: Forbes For only the second year in a decade, both the number of billionaires and their total wealth shrank, proving that even the wealthiest are not immune to economic forces and weak stock markets. By our latest count there are 2,153 billionaires, 55 fewer than a year ago. Of those, a record 994, or 46%, are poorer (relatively speaking) than they were last year. In total, the ultra-rich are worth $8.7 trillion, down $400 billion from 2018. Altogether 11% of last year’s list members, or 247 people, dropped out of the ranks, the most since 2009 at the height of the global financial crisis.   Asia-Pacific was hardest hit, with 60 fewer 10-figure fortunes. That dip was led by China, which has 49 fewer billionaires than a year ago. Europe, the Middle East and Africa also lost ground. The Americas, driven by a resurgent Brazil, and the U.S. are the only two regions that have more billionaires than they did a year ago. There are now a record 607 in the U.S. That includes 14 of the world’s 20 richest. Jeff Bezos is again number 1 in the world, followed by Bill Gates at number 2.

Data cited at: Forbes

Forbes valued the brands on three years of earnings and allocated a percentage of those earnings based on the role brands play in each industry (e.g., high for luxury goods and beverages, low for airlines and oil companies). The average price-to-earnings multiple over the past three years was applied to these earnings to arrive at the final brand value. A universe of more than 200 global brands was a starting point. Brands were required to have more than a token presence in the U.S., which eliminated some big brands like multinational telecom firm Vodafone and Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba. The first step in valuing the brands was to determine revenue and earnings before interest and taxes for each brand. We gathered these from company reports, Wall Street research and industry experts. A tip of the cap to Euromonitor, who provided retail sales figures for certain product brands. Forbes averaged earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) over the past three years and subtracted from earnings a charge of 8% of the brand’s capital employed, figuring a generic brand should be able to earn at least 8% on this capital. Forbes applied the maximum corporate tax rate in the parent company’s home country to that net earnings figure. Next, a percentage of those earnings was allocated to the brand based on the role brands play in each industry. (Brands are crucial when it comes to beverages and luxury goods, but less so with airlines, when price and convenience are more important.) To this net brand earnings number, the average price-to-earnings multiple was applied over the past three years to arrive at the final brand value. For privately held outfits an earnings multiple for a comparable public company was applied. Brands are all in U.S. dollars and converted at April 25 exchange rates. The 100 most valuable brands span 16 countries and cross 19 broad industry categories.