In this piece, we will take a look at the 15 most valuable bootstrapped companies in the world.
The allure of making it big in the business world, disrupting industries, and making millions is what drives entrepreneurs to take risks and set up new firms. Setting up a new company is perhaps among the most difficult tasks in the world, as it requires a multi-year commitment and solving new challenges almost every day. However, the returns of this struggle are exponential in many cases.
A key challenge when setting up a new firm is finding capital. There are a couple of ways in which founders can secure funding, and these include seeking the aid of outside professional investors or relying on their own capital or that of close friends and family. The latter is called bootstrapping, and it has its caveats and benefits since while raising capital from outside sources requires ceding control, using your own money to finance a startup carries the risk of a complete loss of savings and other funds.
An example of the toll that the latter takes on a founder is the SpaceX billionaire Mr. Elon Musk. During the 2008 financial crisis, and when his company suffered its first three rocket launch failures, Mr. Musk would reportedly wake up screaming at night after experiencing nightmares. At the time, the executive had invested all his money into Tesla and SpaceX, and as both failed to turn a profit or execute successfully, his mental health paid the price alongside his bank account.
Fast forward to the current day, and SpaceX is one of the most valuable privately held companies in the world. Alongside the rocket company that is the darling of the aerospace world and the public sector these days, some other top firms that were bootstrapped initially but then made it big are Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL).
Our Methodology
We took a broad look at the business world to sift out the biggest names right now. Their history was then studied to determine if, during their early stages, they relied exclusively on non-professional funding to set up their operations and start generating revenues. Where applicable, hedge fund holdings courtesy of Insider Monkey’s Q3 2022 survey of 920 funds are also provided.
Most Valuable Bootstrapped Companies In The World
15. The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)
Market Value as of November 25th, 2022: $18.45 billion
The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) manufactures and sells household, wellness, and lifestyle products all over the world. It is headquartered in Oakland, California, the United States.
The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) is one of the oldest firms on our list. Its founding year is 1913, when a purveyor, a banker, a bookkeeper, a lawyer, and a miner invested $500 to start manufacturing liquid bleach in San Francisco, California. Its founding years were tough, and fortunes changed when The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) started to sell diluted bleach for household use.
As part of their September quarter of 2022 investments, 27 of the 920 hedge fund portfolios scanned by Insider Monkey had invested in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX).
The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)’s largest hedge fund investor is Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies which owns 856,330 shares that are worth $109 million.
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META), and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) are met by The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) as one of the largest bootstrapped companies in the world.
14. eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY)
Market Value as of November 25th, 2022: $24.44 billion
eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) is an American online marketplace that connects buyers with sellers. The firm is headquartered in San Jose, California.
eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) was initially a pet project of its founder, Pierre Omidyar, who let users sign up for free and sell their products. Dubbed as AuctionWeb, the website was set up in 1995 and would continue to be bootstrapped until it received its first funding in 1997. Since then, eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) has grown to have a market capitalization of a whopping $24.44 billion.
42 out of the 920 hedge funds part of Insider Monkey’s Q3 2022 survey had held a stake in the company.
eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY)’s largest investor is D.E. Shaw’s D E Shaw which owns 5.9 million shares that are worth $218 million.
13. HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ)
Market Value as of November 25th, 2022: $30 billion
HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) is an American personal computing firm that sells laptops, workstations, printers, and other products. The firm is based in Palo Alto, California.
HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) is the quintessential Silicon Valley startup, as it was the first technology firm of its kind that was set up in a garage. Its founders, Bill Hewlett and David Packard, created HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) in 1938 with just $538 in capital and formalized their company a year later. HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) is now worth $30 billion.
Insider Monkey’s Q3 2022 study of 920 hedge funds revealed that 42 had bought HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ)’s shares.
Out of these, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ)’s largest investor. It owns 104 million shares that are worth $2.6 billion.
12. Atlassian Corporation (NASDAQ:TEAM)
Market Value as of November 25th, 2022: $31.72 billion
Atlassian Corporation (NASDAQ:TEAM) is an American software firm that provides workflow management solutions, a service desk product, and an IT management tool.
Atlassian Corporation (NASDAQ:TEAM) was set up in 2002 by graduates of the University of New South Wales in Australia. The founders took $10,000 in credit card debt and used it to bootstrap their company all the way to $50 million in recurring revenue by 2010.
58 out of the 920 hedge fund portfolios studied by Insider Monkey for their third quarter of 2022 investments had held a stake in Atlassian Corporation (NASDAQ:TEAM).
Atlassian Corporation (NASDAQ:TEAM)’s largest investor is Henry Ellenbogen’s Durable Capital Partners which owns 2.8 million shares that are worth $592 million.
11. Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE:DELL)
Market Value as of November 25th, 2022: $32.7 billion
Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE:DELL) is one of the largest consumer electronics firms in the world, and one which was the first to successfully treat the modern day personal computer as a mass producible good. The firm is headquartered in Round Rock, Texas.
Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE:DELL) was set up as PC’s Limited by its now billionaire founder Mr. Michael Dell in 1984. Mr. Dell would set the firm up with a mere $1,000 from his parents, and three years later the firm would change its name to Dell and open its first international subsidiary in Great Britain. The $1,000 from Mr. Dell’s parents is now worth $32.7 billion on the stock market.
By the end of this year’s third quarter, 49 of the 920 hedge funds part of Insider Monkey’s research had invested in Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE:DELL).
Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE:DELL)’s largest shareholder in our database is Steven Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management which owns four million shares that are worth $139 million.
10. Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)
Market Value as of November 25th, 2022: $35.64 billion
Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) is a restaurant operator and franchisor. The firm owns the iconic fast food outlet Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) and is based in Louisville, Kentucky.
The story of KFC is one of a classical entrepreneur. Its founder, now the legendary Colonel Harland Sanders, is a household name. While the good Colonel did serve in the U.S. military, he did not reach this rank and the title is instead an honorary one. Mr. Sanders set up what is now KFC as a gas station restaurant selling fried chicken in 1930.
40 out of the 920 hedge funds polled by Insider Monkey had held a stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) during Q3 2022.
Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group is Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)’s largest shareholder which owns 3.5 shares that are worth $376 million.
9. Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX)
Market Value as of November 25th, 2022: $125 billion (Privately Held)
Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) is an American aerospace company that is headquartered in Hawthorne, California. The firm conducts rocket launches for public and private sector clients, and its subsidiary offers satellite internet connectivity.
SpaceX was set up by Elon Musk in 2002, and over the years, he would go on to pump $100 million into the venture to develop the world’s first private rocket capable of reaching low Earth orbit (LEO). This was the money he earned after PayPal was acquired by eBay, with Musk’s stake netting him a cool $180 million. Out of this, the final $30 million went into SpaceX following the Falcon 1’s first successful launch in 2008 after a painstaking four years spent in development that saw all three of the first launches end in failure.
Mr. Musk’s initial $100 million investment, which came before venture capital funding for SpaceX, is now worth $125 billion according to the latest estimates of SpaceX’s market value.
8. SAP SE (NYSE:SAP)
Market Value as of November 25th, 2022: $194 billion
SAP SE (NYSE:SAP) is an enterprise resource planning software provider. The firm’s products allow users to consolidate their business data under a single platform for improved visibility and decision making.
SAP SE (NYSE:SAP) was set up in 1972 by a group of International Business Machines (IBM) engineers who decided to build a firm around a defunct project that they had helped create. The firm’s first customer was Imperial Chemical industries and it operated with a seven member workforce, five of which were original founders.
17 out of the 920 hedge funds polled by Insider Monkey during this year’s third quarter had invested in SAP SE (NYSE:SAP).
SAP SE (NYSE:SAP)’s largest investor is Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management which owns 6.7 million shares that are worth $549 million.
7. Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)
Market Value as of November 25th, 2022: $198.83 billion
Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) is an American firm that sells networking and communications products. It is headquartered in San Jose, California.
Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) was founded by a couple working at Stanford University in 1984. Its products used software used to link Stanford’s systems, and the firm went public in 1990.
By the end of this year’s third quarter, 68 out of the 920 hedge funds part of Insider Monkey’s research had held a stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO).
Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)’s largest shareholder is John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors which owns 9.7 million shares worth $388 million.
6. Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)
Market Value as of November 25th, 2022: $223 billion
Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) is an American enterprise software provider. Its products let businesses consolidate their data under a single platform to run advanced analytics.
Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) was set up in 1977 as Software Development Laboratories (SDL). The firm was renamed Oracle Corporation in 1983, and its first customer was the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
67 of the 920 funds studied by Insider Monkey for their Q3 2022 holdings had invested in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL).
Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)’s largest investor is Jean-Marie Eveillard’s First Eagle Investment Management which owns 25.9 million shares worth $1.5 billion.
Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL), Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) are some of the most valuable bootstrapped companies in the world.
5. The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)
Market Value as of November 25th, 2022: $271 billion
The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) is the world’s largest beverage company. The firm is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the United States.
The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) traces its beginnings to a drug store run by a Civil War veteran in Columbus, Georgia. It was designed as a morphine substitute in 1885, and marketed later on as a treatment for many ailments – including nerve disorders and impotence.
By the end of the third quarter of 2022, 59 out of the 920 hedge funds polled by Insider Monkey had bought The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)’s shares.
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)’s largest investor. It owns 400 million shares that are worth $22 billion.
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4. Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)
Market Value as of November 25th, 2022: $295 billion
Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is one of the world’s largest social media companies. It owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The firm is headquartered in Menlo Park, California.
Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) has its humble beginnings in the dormitories of Harvard University. Set up in 2003, the company’s Facebook platform was initially dubbed FaceMash and limited to being a picture comparison site. Later on, it was expanded to be called TheFacebook, taking its name from college student directories. Facebook was founded when Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin invested $2,000 into the site, and the rest is history.
177 of the 920 hedge funds polled by Insider Monkey during Q3 2022 had invested in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) .
Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s largest investor is Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management which owns 11.8 million shares that are worth $1.6 billion.
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3. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)
Market Value as of November 25th, 2022: $953 billion
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is the world’s largest electronic commerce retailer. The firm also has cloud computing, consumer electronics, and satellite internet divisions.
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) was set up by Mr. Jeff Bezos in 1994 as Cadabra, Inc. However, Mr. Bezos changed the name soon to Amazon, and operated it out of his parents’ garage. The company’s first investment was from his parents, who contributed $250,000 to the company and by 1995, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) had opened as an online bookseller.
By the end of this year’s third quarter, 269 out of the 920 hedge funds part of Insider Monkey’s survey had invested in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN).
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)’s largest hedge fund investor in our database is Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management which owns 49.8 million shares that are worth $5.6 billion.
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2. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)
Market Value as of November 25th, 2022: $1.84 trillion
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is an American software firm that sells operating systems, cloud computing services, and hardware devices.
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is another firm that was set up by college undergraduates. The firm traces its roots to 1974 at Harvard University when its founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen, who was working at Honeywell at the time, decided to write code for the world’s first microcomputer.
269 of the 920 hedge fund portfolios studied by Insider Monkey for their third quarter of 2022 holdings had held a stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT).
Michael Larson’s Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust is Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s largest investor. It owns 39.2 million shares that are worth $9.1 billion.
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1. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)
Market Value as of November 25th, 2022: $2.36 trillion
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is the world’s most valuable consumer electronics firm. The company sells smartphones, smartwatches, tablets, computers, and more.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was set up on April 1, 1976, as its late co-founder Mr. Steve Jobs’ sense of humor drove him to set up a firm on April Fool’s Day. The idea was to use HP’s 6502 chip as a base for a printable circuit board (PCB) for a computer. Apple’s other co-founder, Mr. Steve Wozniak, designed the PCB, and was convinced by Mr. Jobs to sell the product. The pair invested $2,000 in the new venture, with the bulk coming after Mr. Jobs sold his microbus for $1,500.
As of Q3 2022, 140 out of the 920 hedge funds polled by Insider Monkey had invested in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL).
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s largest investor is Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway. It owns 894 million shares that are worth $123 billion.
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Disclosure: None. 15 Most Valuable Bootstrapped Companies In The World is originally published on Insider Monkey.
