#9 – General Electric

General Electric (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892 by Thomas Edison, Charles Coffin, Elihu Thomson and Edwin Houston. It operates in many industries including energy, oil and gas, aviation, healthcare, transportation and financial services. Headquarted in Connecticut in the U.S. GE employs more than 325,000 people, in more than 100 countries worldwide.

Other interesting facts? The Nobel Prize has been awarded twice to General Electric employees; Irving Langmuir and Ivar Giaever. A less positive fact is that GE designed the six reactors that failed in the 2011 Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant catastrophe.