The silver medal goes to the German Allianz, the 14th biggest company in the world. It bears it’s name since 1890, when the Allianz Versicherungs-Aktien-Gesellschaft was founded by Carl Thieme and Wilhelm Finck.
At the end of the 19th Century, its first international office in London was opened and within 20 years, Allianz became by far the biggest insurer in Germany. The company’s reputation suffered during WWII because of its connections with Nazis, however, Allianz survived the war.
It regained its strong position at the home market, thanks to their innovative attitude (it has widely been using computers since early 50’s). From the beginning of the 1970s, the company started to expand and has continued its efforts till nowadays.
It has more than 80 million customers in about 70 countries, and 181,124 employees worldwide (40% of them in Germany). Structured as a holding of approximately 700 companies, Allianz operates in three core business areas: property and casualty insurance, life and health insurance, and asset management and banking.
Sources:
