Microsoft tops Thomson Reuters top 100 global tech leaders list

Thomson Reuters Corp on Wednesday published its debut "Top 100 Global Technology Leaders" list with Microsoft Corp in the no. 1 spot, followed by chipmaker Intel Corp and network gear maker Cisco Systems Inc .

The list, which aims to identify the industry's top financially successful and organisationally sound organizations, features US tech giants such as Apple Inc, Alphabet Inc, International Business Machines Corp and Texas Instruments Inc, among its top 10.

Microchip maker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing <2330.TW>, German business software giant SAP and Dublin-based consultant Accenture round out the top 10.

The remaining 90 companies are not ranked, but the list also includes the world's largest online retailer Amazon.com Inc and social media giant Facebook Inc . (http://bit.ly/2B8eowE )

The results are based on a 28-factor algorithm that measures performance across eight benchmarks: financial, management and investor confidence, risk and resilience, legal compliance, innovation, people and social responsibility, environmental impact, and reputation.

The assessment tracks patent activity for technological innovation and sentiment in news and selected social media as the reflection of a company's public reputation.

The set of tech companies is restricted to those that have at least $1 billion in annual revenue.

According to the list, 45 percent of these 100 tech companies are headquartered in the United States. Japan and Taiwan are tied for second place with 13 companies each, followed by India with five tech leaders on the list.

By continent, North America leads with 47, followed by Asia with 38, Europe with 14 and Australia with one.

The strength of Asia highlights the growth of companies such as Tencent Holdings Ltd <0700.HK>, which became the first Asian firm to enter the club of companies worth more than $500 billion, and surpassed Facebook in market value in November.

Reuters is the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, which produced the list.