World's Most Admired Companies

Top 50 rank: 5
Rank in Soaps and Cosmetics: 1
(Previous rank: 1)
Overall score: 7.43
Procter & Gamble has incredible reach. It's the world's largest consumer-products company, with annual sales around $79 billion.

P&G has a long history of earning the respect of its peers -- fifth on the overall list this year, it's been ranked first in its industry every year it's been in the survey since 1997.

With commodity prices rising, P&G says it will have to raise prices on some products. But P&G's products, including Tide, Crest and many other household staples, form a strong foundation to weather volatile prices down the supply chain. --S.D.