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The following are some of the largest internet companies by number of users, with information about shareholders and a basic summary of the company's operational structure, income stream, and key stakeholders. Mouse over stakeholders to learn more. Click through for more reading.

Alphabet

Publicly Traded: Yes

Top 5 Shareholders:

Governance Structure:

Alphabet uses a dual-class share structure, with Class A shares (GOOGL) for public investors and Class B shares held by founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, granting them 51% of voting power. The company is governed by a board of directors, with Sundar Pichai as CEO.

Key Decision Makers:

Income Generation (2023):

Advertising Revenue (Google Ads, YouTube Ads) - $237.86 billion (81%)
Google Cloud Services - $44.05 billion (15%)
Other Bets (Waymo, Verily, etc.) - $11.75 billion (4%)

X (formerly Twitter)

Publicly Traded: No (Privately Held by Elon Musk)

Governance Structure:

X is privately owned by Elon Musk, who acquired the company in 2022. As the sole owner, Musk has full control over the company's operations and strategic direction.

Key Decision Makers:

Elon Musk - 100% voting power

Income Generation (2023):

Advertising Revenue - $3.4 billion (90%)
Data Licensing - $190 million (5%)
Subscription Services (X Premium) - $190 million (5%)

Publicly Traded: Yes (IPO in March 2024)

Top 5 Shareholders:

Governance Structure:

Reddit is governed by a board of directors, with Steve Huffman serving as CEO. The company went public in March 2024, and its governance structure reflects a mix of institutional investors and key executives. Reddit’s board includes members like Michael Seibel, Porter Gale, and Dave Habiger (Chairman), who bring diverse expertise to the company’s strategic direction.

Key Decision Makers:

Income Generation (2023):

Advertising Revenue - $683 million (85%):cite[4]
Reddit Gold and Premium Subscriptions - $80 million (10%)
Data Licensing - $40 million (5%)

TikTok

Publicly Traded: No (Owned by ByteDance)

Governance Structure:

TikTok is a subsidiary of ByteDance, a privately held Chinese company. ByteDance is governed by a board of directors, with significant influence from its founder, Zhang Yiming.

Key Decision Makers:

Income Generation (2023):

Advertising Revenue - $16.1 billion (80%):cite[2]:cite[5]
In-App Purchases (TikTok Coins, Gifts) - $3.02 billion (15%)
E-commerce and Partnerships - $1.01 billion (5%)

Wikipedia

Publicly Traded: No (Non-Profit Organization)

Governance Structure:

Wikipedia is operated by the Wikimedia Foundation, a non-profit organization. It is governed by a board of trustees, which oversees the foundation's operations and strategic direction. The foundation relies on donations and grants for funding.

Key Decision Makers:

Income Generation (2023):

Donations - $165.6 million (85%)
Grants - $19.5 million (10%)
Other Revenue (Merchandise, Partnerships) - $9.7 million (5%)

Microsoft

Publicly Traded: Yes

Top 5 Shareholders:

Governance Structure:

Microsoft operates with a single-class share structure. The company is governed by a board of directors, with Satya Nadella serving as CEO. Shareholders have proportional voting rights based on their share ownership.

Key Decision Makers:

Income Generation (2023):

Cloud Services (Azure, Office 365) - $110.2 billion (50%)
Software Licensing (Windows, Office) - $66.1 billion (30%)
Hardware (Surface, Xbox) - $22.0 billion (10%)
Other Revenue (LinkedIn, Advertising) - $22.0 billion (10%)

Amazon

Publicly Traded: Yes

Top 5 Shareholders:

Governance Structure:

Amazon operates with a single-class share structure. The company is governed by a board of directors, with Andy Jassy serving as CEO. Shareholders have proportional voting rights based on their share ownership.

Key Decision Makers:

Income Generation (2023):

E-commerce Sales - $220.1 billion (60%)
AWS (Amazon Web Services) - $90.8 billion (30%)
Subscription Services (Prime, Music, Video) - $25.7 billion (7%)
Advertising Revenue - $11.0 billion (3%)