The AI boom created winners far beyond Silicon Valley. Wall Street was one of them. The rush to finance data centers, fund startups and bring new companies to market helped drive a resurgence in dealmaking and capital raising, putting 450 banks and financial companies on the 2026 Forbes Global 2000, the annual ranking of the world's largest public companies. While that was down slightly from 463 a year ago, the sector remained the largest category on the list, and JPMorgan Chase retained the top overall spot for a fourth straight year. Financial companies claimed 32 spots among the world's 100 largest public companies this year, up slightly from 31 a year ago. They also accounted for five of the top 10 companies on the list, matching last year's total.

The rebound in dealmaking was especially important for the industry’s largest players, which have the biggest underwriting, advisory and trading operations. Global mergers and acquisitions deal value rose 36% in 2025, while investment banking fees climbed to $102.9 billion, trailing only the record $132.3 billion generated in 2021.

No company better illustrates the sector’s strength than JPMorgan Chase. The banking giant, which has $4.9 trillion in assets, retained the No. 1 spot on the Global 2000 for a fourth consecutive year. The firm remained the world's top investment bank by fees for the 17th straight year, with fees rising to $9.6 billion in 2025 from $8.9 billion a year earlier. Among other transactions, JPMorgan was a lead underwriter on AI cloud provider CoreWeave's $1.5 billion IPO, one of 2025’s most closely watched, and scrutinized, public offerings.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, with $8.1 trillion in assets, remained the world's second-largest bank but slipped to No. 6 overall from No. 3 a year ago. Bank of America ($3.4 trillion in assets) ranked seventh overall,........

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