1. Google:
In the summer of 1995, Larry Page and Sergey Brin met for the first time at Stanford. Larry, 22, a University of Michigan graduate, was considering the school, and Sergey, 21, was assigned to show him around.According to some accounts, they disagreed on almost everything during this first meeting.In 1996, Page and Brin, now Stanford computer science grad students, began collaborating on a search engine called BackRub. It operated on Stanford servers for more than a year -- eventually taking up too much bandwidth to suit the university.
Next year, Page and Brin decided that the BackRub search engine needed a new name. After some brainstorming, they went with Google -- a play on the word 'googol,' a mathematical term for the number represented by the numeral 1 followed by 100 zeros. The use of the term reflected their mission to organise a seemingly infinite amount of information on the web.
In August 1998, Sun co-founder Andy Bechtolsheim wrote a check for $100,000 to an entity that dd not exist: a company called Google Inc.In September, Google set up workspace in a garage at 232 Santa Margarita, Menlo Park.Google files for incorporation in California on September 4. Shortly thereafter, Page and Brin open a bank account in the newly-established company's name and deposited Andy Bechtolsheim's check.Craig Silverstein a Stanford graduate was Google's first employee.
In December, PC Magazine recognised Google as the search engine of choice in the Top 100 Web Sites for 1998.Google is now headquartered at 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, California.
2. KPMG
KPMG is one of the largest professional services firms in the world and one of the Big Four auditors, along with PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and Ernst & Young.
Its global headquarters are located in Amstelveen, the Netherlands. It has emerged as the second most attractive employer in the world.
KPMG employs over 136,500 people in a global network of professional services firms spanning over 140 countries.It has three lines of services: audit, tax, and advisory.
3. Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young, the third most attractive employer in the world, is the result of a series of mergers of ancestor organisations. The oldest originating partnership was founded in 1849 in England as Harding & Pullein.
In 1989, the number four (accounting firm) merged with the then number five, Arthur Young, on a global basis to create Ernst & Young. In October 1997, EY announced plans to merge its global practices with KPMG to create the largest professional services organisation in the world. In 2002, EY merged with many of the ex-Arthur Andersen practices around the world, although not those in the USA, UK, China or the Netherlands.
4. PricewaterhouseCoopers
The search giant is followed by PricewaterhouseCoopers where most B-Schools students want to work.
"The employers that feature in this Top 50 all have one thing in common: they successfully appeal to current and future talent, and they are aware of how scarce talent is," Universum said.
In 1849, Samuel Lowell Price set up a business in London, and in 1854, William Cooper established his own practice in the city, which seven years later becomes Cooper Brothers. Finally, in 1998 following a worldwide merger of Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand, PricewaterhouseCoopers was born.
PwC was named the 2009 Top Company for Global Diversity by DiversityInc. While PwC was a top 10 winner in the 11th Annual Global Most Admired Knowledge Enterprise Award, PwC US was named one of Fortune's '100 Best Companies to Work For' in 2009.
5. Deloitte
Deloitte has approximately 165,000 staff in 140 countries, delivering audit, tax, consulting and financial advisory services through its member firms. It is the world's fifth mots attractive employer.
Its global headquarters are located in New York City, New York. European headquarters are located in London.Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu is a Swiss Verein, a membership organization under the Swiss Civil Code whereby each member firm is a separate and independent legal entity.
Deloitte offers its staff a variety of career models to choose from based on their preferences, geographic location and business need. The organisation is consistently rated by Fortune as one of their '100 Best Companies To Work For'.
In 2007 and 2009, Deloitte was rated the number one place to launch your career by BusinessWeek.
6. Procter and Gamble
William Procter, a candlemaker, and James Gamble, a soapmaker, immigrants from England and Ireland, respectively, who had settled earlier in Cincinnati, met as they both married sisters, Olivia and Elizabeth Norris.
Alexander Norris, their father-in law, called a meeting in which he persuaded his new sons-in-law to become business partners. On October 31, 1837, as a result of the suggestion, Procter & Gamble was born.
As of 2008, P&G is the 8th largest corporation in the world by market capitalisation and 14th largest US company by profit.
7. Microsoft
Irrespective of ranks, the top 50 global employers for business and engineering students are very similar, showing strong employer brands transcend many skill and industry groups. While engineering graduates preferred Microsoft as their second choice, for business students, Microsoft is the third choice. The software giant is the world's seventh most attractive employer.
Following the launch of the Altair 8800 (a computer), William Henry Gates III, (Bill Gates) called the developers of the new microcomputer, Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems, offering to demonstrate an implementation of the BASIC programming language for the system.
After the demonstration, MITS agreed to distribute Altair BASIC. Gates left Harvard University, moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico where MITS was located, and founded Microsoft there.
The company's first international office was founded on November 1, 1978, in Japan, titled ASCII Microsoft (now called Microsoft Japan).
On January 1, 1979, the company moved from Albuquerque to a new home in Bellevue, Washington. Steve Ballmer joined the company on June 11, 1980, and later succeeded Bill Gates as CEO. On August 12, 1981 IBM introduced its personal computer with Microsoft's 16-bit operating system, MS-DOS 1.0. on May 22, 1990 Microsoft launched Windows 3.0.
8. The Coca-Cola company
The Coca-Cola Company is a beverage company, manufacturer, distributor, and marketer of non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups.
The company is best known for its flagship product Coca-Cola, invented by pharmacist John Stith Pemberton in 1886. The Coca-Cola formula and brand was bought in 1889 by Asa Candler who incorporated The Coca-Cola Company in 1892.
Muhtar Kent is the CEO and president of the company. Besides the Coca-Cola beverage, Coca-Cola currently offers more than 400 brands in over 200 countries or territories.
As of July 2010, the company has 92,800 employees.
9. JPMorgan Chase
J P Morgan is part of JPMorgan Chase & Co, a global financial services firm with assets of $2.0 trillion.
John Pierpont Morgan (April 17, 1837 - March 31, 1913) was an American financier, banker and art collector who dominated corporate finance and industrial consolidation during his time. He created the first billion dollar corporation by buying out industrialist Andre Carnegie and combining some 33 companies to form United States Steel.
During the financial panoc of 1907, J P Morgan saved several trust companies and a leading brokerage house from insolvency, bailed out New York City, and bailed out New York Stock Exchange.
And in 2008, J P Morgan played an important role in helping manage the credit crisis through the acquisition of Bear Stearns.
10. Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs was founded in 1869 by German immigrant Marcus Goldman. In 1882, Goldman's son-in-law Samuel Sachs joined the firm which prompted the name change to Goldman Sachs.
The company made a name for itself pioneering the use of commercial paper for entrepreneurs and was invited to join the New York Stock Exchange in 1896.In the early 20th century, Goldman was a player in establishing the initial public offering market.
It managed one of the largest IPOs to date, that of Sears, Roebuck and Company in 1906.
It also became one of the first companies to heavily recruit those with MBA degrees from leading business schools, a practice that still continues today.
