Anyone ever heard of a successful Greek multinational company? Indeed!

There you have the reason why the Greeks have a real problem with their $US450 billion debt and the Americans won’t have any trouble servicing its $US14.3 trillion debt.

Below is a list of the 38 companies, which, on Friday night on various stock exchanges around the world, were valued at more than $US100 billion. All numbers are in US dollars.

1. 1. Exxon-Mobil: the Texas-based oil giant has a market capitalisation of $393 billion after revealing $30.5 billion annual profit in 2010 on revenue of $383 billion. Have bought back a world record $175 billion worth of shares over the past decade.

2. Apple: market capitalisation of $362 billion and has $70 billion in cash but never paid a dividend. Revenue in 2009-10 was $65 billion and net profit $14 billion.

3. Microsoft: market capitalisation of $229 billion and holds $41 billion of cash. In 2010 delivered a profit of $18.76 billion on revenue of $62.5 billion.

4. BHP-Billiton market capitalisation of $226 billion. $10.5 billion net profit for December 2010 half on revenue of $34 billion. Returned $29 billion through dividends and buy backs over past five years.

5. Nestle: Europe’s largest food company has a market capitalisation of $220 billion and partly explains the amazing success of the Swiss economy.

6. IBM: the original US computer company has a market capitalisation of $217 billion.

7. Petrobras: the partially state-owned Brazilian energy giant has a market capitalisation of $209 billion.
8. Chevron: another US oil giant with a market capitalisation of $209 billion. 2008 was its record year with annual profit of $24 billion on revenue of $264 billion.

9. China Construction Bank Corp: only a limited free float given dominant government shareholding but based on Hong Kong listing has a nominal market capitalisation of $200.7 billion.

10. China Mobile: only a limited free float given dominant government shareholding but based on Hong Kong listing has a nominal market capitalisation of $199.7 billion.

11. General Electric: the original US conglomerate, which still has a market capitalisation of $198 billion and in 2010 delivered annual profit of $12.6 billion on revenue of $150 billion.

12. Google: market capitalisation of $195 billion and holds $40 billion in cash because doesn’t pay dividends or do buybacks. In 2010, revenues hit $29 billion and generated net profit of $8.5 billion.

13. Berkshire Hathaway: Warren Buffett’s investment vehicle has a market capitalisation of $183 billion and has almost $50 billion in cash but never paid a dividend. Annual revenue of about $60 billion and net profits average about $4 billion.

14. Walmart: the biggest US retailer has a market capitalisation of $183 billion with sales of more than $400 billion annual earnings of about $15 billion.

15. Johnson & Johnson: US healthcare products giant with a market capitalisation of $178 billion.

16. AT&T: the most valuable US telco with a market capitalisation of $173 billion.

17. Gazprom: the state-controlled Russian energy giant has a market capitalisation of $172 billion.

18. Proctor & Gamble: US fast-moving consumer goods giant has a market capitalisation of $172 billion

19. Novartis: Swiss-based pharmaceutical company with market capitalisation of $168 billion.

20. Vale: the Brazilian iron ore giant has a market capitalisation of $168 billion.

21. Royal Dutch Shell: Europe’s biggest energy company has a market capitalisation of $160 billion.

22. Roche: Swiss-based pharmaceutical giant with market capitalisation of $157 billion.

23. Wells Fargo: the most valuable US bank has a market capitalisation of $148 billion.

24. Oracle: US software giant with market capitalisation of $154 billion.

25. Pfizer: New York-based pharmaceutical giant with a market capitalisation of $152 billion and generates about $50 billion a year in revenue and annual profits of $8 billion.

26. Rio Tinto: London-based mining giant with a market capitalisation of $144 billion. The majority of this value comes from Australian resources.

27. BP: the London-based oil giant has a market capitalisation of $143 billion.

28. Vodafone: London-based mobiles giant with a market capitalisation of $141 billion.

29. Toyota: Japan’s most valuable company and the world’s biggest car maker. Has a market capitalisation of $141 billion.

30. Siemens: the German giant has a market capitalisation of $111 billion.

31. Citi: recovering US banking giant now has a market capitalisation of $110 billion.

32. JP Morgan: Wall Street banking giant has a market capitalisation of $107 billion

33. HSBC: British-controlled but Hong Kong-based banking giant with a market capitalisation of $106 billion.

34. Hewlett Packard: US computer and IT giant has a market capitalisation of $105 billion.

35. Merck: US pharmaceutical giant with market capitalisation of $105 billion.

36. Cisco Systems: US IT company with a market capitalisation of $103 billion.

37. Conoco-Phillips: another US oil giant with a market capitalisation of $101 billion

38. Amazon: another US technology success story. The world’s biggest online retailer has a market capitalisation of $101 billion.

These numbers don’t lie. With 22 of the 38 companies valued at more than $100 billion, the US has ample corporate firepower to draw on when it comes to servicing government debt.

*Crikey founder Stephen Mayne will be appearing on Q&A tonight, with Christine Nixon, Tanya Plibersek, Peter Dutton, Heather Ridout and Brendan O’Neil.