Alphabet

RANK21

Google’s parent company, Alphabet, faced major challenges in 2020. It was attacked for pushing out two A.I. researchers and got hammered during congressional hearings, and it suffered its first-ever slowdown in advertising revenue. Despite all that, it ended the year with record fourth-quarter sales, after its ad business rebounded from a coronavirus-related lull. Alphabet also benefited from YouTube’s rapid growth, and it invested big money in its cloud business. The company wrapped up 2020 with $182.5 billion in revenue, up 13% year over year, and more than $40 billion in profit. But 2021 hasn’t been easy either. Alphabet still faces federal and state antitrust lawsuits, pressure from a newly formed employee union, and scrutiny over problematic content disseminated on YouTube.