The global defense industry in one chart

The world's 50 most valuable private companies

While public companies typically have the highest valuations, private companies get close. This list breaks down the top 50 as of 2025, with SpaceX at the top with a value of $350B, followed by ByteDance. Over three-fifths of the list are located in the US, with eight in China.

Nearly half of the discretionary funding in the US is allocated to national defense

The US accounts for roughly 35% of global military spending, with defense taking up nearly half of discretionary funds. In this discussion, Michael E. O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institution explains why these levels are so high—and how they compare historically.

Mapping the world's 25 largest stock exchanges

Totaling a market capitalization of $106T (as of 2023), this map identifies the major stock exchanges worldwide on a map, ranking them by total market value. Nearly half of that value is located in the Americas.

The major AI industry players are creating a web of circular investments

Bloomberg created a network diagram that shows how companies like Nvidia and OpenAI are fueling the AI money machine. The chart shows that many top AI companies provide significant investments to one another.

Visualizing $102T of global debt

Which countries have the most debt? And how does it stack up against their gross domestic product? This visualization, based on data from the International Monetary Fund’s October 2024 outlook, has answers.

Is there an arms race in the Middle East?

In 2021, countries in the Middle East spent $168 billion on weapons. Defense spending in the Middle East has been falling in the last few years, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that the region is de-militarizing. In 2021, Saudi Arabia spent $55...

Poland spends the most on NATO (as a share of GDP) at 4.1%, as of 2024

BBC explores how much each NATO member spends on defense and includes a helpful map displaying the defense spending of European countries as a percentage of GDP.

The NFL is the most valuable sports league in the world

NFL teams are worth a total of $228B. Each team holds an average value of over $7.6B, almost as much as the NBA and MLB combined. The Dallas Cowboys, valued at $12.5B, are the most valuable sports franchise on Earth.

Visualizing cyberattacks by country

Cyber crime is expected to cost the global economy trillions per year by 2025. This data illustration showcases the countries with the most severe cyber attacks from 2006-2020.

See LVMH's current market capitalization

As of early March 2026, LVMH has a market cap of $292.8B, making it the world's 49th most valuable company by market cap.

The world's top agriculture-producing countries

Agriculture is one of the most important industries in the global economy, and while every country produces some of its own food, some countries dominate the markets. The US, Brazil, and the Netherlands are the world's top three agriculture exporters. See more charts and statistics on the topic with this Investopedia article.

The world’s top 10 hedge funds

The world’s top 10 hedge funds based on total assets under management include Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater Associates and Citadel.

The global consulting industry was worth roughly $710B in 2023

From 2017 to 2021, the consulting firm McKinsey took in $77M in consulting contracts with just the US Food and Drug Administration alone.

The incredibly advanced engineering of the B-2 Bomber

B-2 Bombers are the world's most expensive plane, coming in at a cost of $2B per aircraft. There are roughly 20 in the world, all in use by the United States Air Force. They are known for their single-wing profile, allowing for stealth and the ability to transport some of the world's largest bombs.

The Vanguard Total Stock Market Index, was worth roughly $1.47T as of February 2024

That fund (and the other seven largest mutual funds by assets) is an index fund, meaning it invests in a specific set of preset securities.

As of 2025, the US and Qatar dominate global helium production

The US's 42.6% share includes helium imported from Canada and refined within the states. Geopolitical conflicts can cause supply disruptions that impact several advanced technologies, including semiconductor manufacturing, aerospace systems, and medical imaging.

See how global nuclear arsenals surged—then shrank—by country since 1945

Worldwide nuclear stockpiles peaked at over 60,000 warheads in the mid‑1980s during the US-Soviet arms race. Today, about nine nations collectively maintain roughly 12,000 warheads, with Russia and the US still holding the majority.

US Tariff revenue rose to $264B in 2025—More than double that of recent years

In April 2025, President Donald Trump announced tariffs on countries across the globe, raising them to unprecedented levels in modern American history. The increase in tariff rates led to a significant rise in tariff revenue.

In 2025, four executives from large tech companies were given positions in the US Army Reserves—including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar, which reinforced Palantir's ties with the US military and its role as a leading defense partner.

The Nasdaq's 'Magnificent 7' companies are responsible for roughly 40% of the Nasdaq 100 index's gains, while the remaining 93 companies account for the other 60%.

Asia-Pacific's share of global venture capital investment has jumped from 3% to 28% in 20 years

China has driven much of that growth due to its manufacturing power and tech sector. This graphic shows how the share of total venture capital deal value changed around the world between 1997 and 2023.

Visualizing the highest-grossing movie franchises from 1979 to 2019

A few dozen major movie franchises have dominated the box office in recent decades, including "Star Wars," "Harry Potter," "Lord of the Rings," and Marvel. This video shows the change from quarter to quarter in gross revenue for each movie franchise over the decades.

Nvidia controls more than four-fifths of the GPU market—but isn't considered a monopoly

Semiconductor company Nvidia has a commanding market share when it comes to graphics processing units. Its competitors include Advanced Micro Devices and Intel, which together account for less than a fifth of the GPU market.

The world's most peaceful countries

Global Peace Index presents the most comprehensive data-driven analysis to date on trends in peace, including the most and least peaceful countries in the world.

A Palantir executive was named a Lieutenant Colonel in the US Army Reserve

In 2025, four executives from large tech companies were given positions in the US Army Reserves, including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar. The Army says their role in Detachment 201, also known as the Executive Innovation Corps, is to inspire other tech executives to consider how their work can support the US Army—without leaving their careers.

Taiwan's semiconductor dominance

Taiwan is a leader in the production of semiconductors. In the event of a Chinese invasion, what happens if China controls the supply chain for these indispensable materials? How would it affect the United States as well as other nations already dealing with disruptions due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine? This blog explores these questions and more.

Read the WEF’s Global Risks Report for 2025

The Global Risks Report is the World Economic Forum’s annual assessment of the most pressing threats facing the world. The 2025 edition highlights declining global optimism, deepening geopolitical and economic tensions, and rising social fragmentation across societies.

The US dollar is the most widely circulated currency in the world, and is involved in nearly 90% of global transactions

Calculate how much of your tax dollars go to each federal program based on your income, filing status, and number of children

SpaceX's S-1 or 'prospectus' revealed many previously unknown details about the company, including its unprofitability despite doing $18.7B in revenue in 2025, exactly how many voting shares Elon Musk will have in the company (roughly 85%), and more.

US consumers collectively owe more than $1T to credit card companies—almost as much as they owe in auto loans.

Dozens of S&P 500 stocks, including Coca-Cola and Walmart—known as the dividend aristocrats—have increased dividends every year for 25 years

In 2019, a laptop loaded with six of the worst malware in history and described as 'an exhibit of historical weaponry' sold for $1.3M.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps is independent of Iran's regular army and is one of the most powerful and influential military-political organizations in the Middle East.

While the first exchange-traded fund (a 'basket' of different assets that can be bought and sold on a stock exchange) in the US only launched in 1993, the global ETF market has grown to more than $10T in the short time since.

Electrical grids worldwide must double their power delivery capacity by 2050 to meet surging demand from AI and electric vehicles.

Art theft is the third-largest source of criminal revenues worldwide, thanks in part to the subjective nature of valuing a work of art.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict is the largest ground war in Europe since World War II in casualties, forces mobilized, and displacement of civilians.

The most expensive ad of all time was for Chanel No. 5 perfume and cost roughly $33M to produce in 2004—about $57M in today's dollars.

Warren Buffett's former professor Benjamin Graham is known as the 'father of value investing,' a strategy in which investors seek to buy stocks trading below their intrinsic worth.

In 2026, Finland was named the world's happiest country for the ninth consecutive year based on its wealth, social safety network, and high life expectancy, among other factors.

Explore an interactive map of battles from the American Revolution, along with detailed summaries of each engagement

The American Society of Civil Engineers' infrastructure report card gave the US a C in 2025, its highest grade since the project launched in 1998.

As of 2025, the most cited papers in science include a review of graphene, methods to improve image recognition, streamlining electron density calculations, and optimizing protein studies.

Larger animals like giraffes, elephants, and blue whales have developed a unique defense against cancer, a phenomenon known as Peto's Paradox

Fireworks-related ER visits are on the rise—in 2024, they increased by 52% as compared to the prior year.

Explore our favorite visualization of the immense scale of space, from an astronaut to the size of the observable universe

View the ten deadliest tornadoes in US history.

Massive blooms of microscopic plankton called dinoflagellates produce the neon blue light seen in glowing tides.

Legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed the SC Johnson headquarters in Wisconsin, aiming to make a cathedral-like workplace