Companies with high profits and revenue per employee are presumed to be the most successful. Alphabet, Microsoft, and Meta Platforms, owner of Facebook, are such companies. These tech companies are among the largest in the United States, based on revenue, and they are among the youngest large companies. Several were founded in the past 25 years. However, a group of relatively small companies leads the list of highest profit per employee.
Data for the recent “Profit per Employee” research paper from software company Tipalti came from the Fortune 500. The paper examined 914 major companies, most of which made a profit per employee in the last year. Only 238 reported a loss per employee. The company that has the most profits per employee is Air Lease. The company reported $516 million in profits, or $4.3 million per employee.
Air Lease, with an employee count of 120, buys passenger planes and leases them to airlines. The process allows carriers that do not have capital access to planes. Air Lease makes its profit largely off the interest it charges these carriers. The company was hurt by the trouble with the aviation industry caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, but its financials have started to recover.
When the company announced its 2021 results, John L. Plueger, chief executive officer and president, commented: “We had a strong fourth quarter and second half of 2021 that benefited from continuing airline industry recovery, as seen in our cash collections, operating metrics, fleet expansion, and record lease placement.”
Air Lease owns 474 planes that it leases to 118 customers in 60 countries. The company is based in Los Angeles. (See if Air Lease is also among the 50 best companies to work for.)
To find the 50 companies with the most profits per employee, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed Tipalti’s “Profit per Employee” research paper. Very few of the companies with the highest profit per employee are large tech companies. Meta is highest among these, ranking 11th with a profit of nearly $500,000 per employee based on over 58,000 workers. Several financial firms are ahead of Meta.
Mortgage giant Fannie Mae has profit of $1.5 million per employee based on 7,700 workers. This places it second on the list. The third is private equity firm KKR, at $1.3 million per employee based on 1,583 workers. (Find out if any of the companies on this list were also among the most innovative companies in 2021.)
Click here to see the company that has the most profits per employee
50. Oneok
> Profit per employee: $212,335
> Sector: Energy
> Total profit: $612.8 million
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49. Crown Castle International
> Profit per employee: $215,510
> Sector: Financials
> Total profit: $1.1 billion
48. Nvidia
> Profit per employee: $228,300
> Sector: Technology
> Total profit: $4.3 billion
47. Cincinnati Financial
> Profit per employee: $230,991
> Sector: Financials
> Total profit: $1.2 billion
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46. Activision Blizzard
> Profit per employee: $231,263
> Sector: Media
> Total profit: $2.2 billion
45. Goldman Sachs Group
> Profit per employee: $233,556
> Sector: Financials
> Total profit: $9.5 billion
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44. Adobe
> Profit per employee: $233,612
> Sector: Technology
> Total profit: $5.3 billion
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43. Intercontinental Exchange
> Profit per employee: $234,983
> Sector: Financials
> Total profit: $2.1 billion
42. Tri Pointe Homes
> Profit per employee: $242,648
> Sector: Engineering and construction
> Total profit: $282.2 million
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41. D.R. Horton
> Profit per employee: $244,308
> Sector: Engineering and construction
> Total profit: $2.4 billion
40. Celanese
> Profit per employee: $259,206
> Sector: Chemicals
> Total profit: $2.0 billion
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39. Lennar
> Profit per employee: $259,610
> Sector: Engineering and construction
> Total profit: $2.5 billion
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38. Sempra
> Profit per employee: $267,374
> Sector: Energy
> Total profit: $3.9 billion
37. PulteGroup
> Profit per employee: $268,013
> Sector: Engineering and construction
> Total profit: $1.4 billion
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36. Meritage Homes
> Profit per employee: $269,745
> Sector: Engineering and construction
> Total profit: $423.5 million
35. Microsoft
> Profit per employee: $271,663
> Sector: Technology
> Total profit: $44.3 billion
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34. BioMarin Pharmaceutical
> Profit per employee: $280,843
> Sector: Health care
> Total profit: $859.1 million
33. Seagen
> Profit per employee: $293,356
> Sector: Health care
> Total profit: $613.7 million
32. Netflix
> Profit per employee: $293,766
> Sector: Media
> Total profit: $2.8 billion
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31. Alphabet
> Profit per employee: $297,625
> Sector: Technology
> Total profit: $40.3 billion
30. BlackRock
> Profit per employee: $298,909
> Sector: Financials
> Total profit: $4.9 billion
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29. Amgen
> Profit per employee: $298,930
> Sector: Health care
> Total profit: $7.3 billion
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28. American Tower
> Profit per employee: $300,926
> Sector: Financials
> Total profit: $1.7 billion
27. Mastercard
> Profit per employee: $305,286
> Sector: Business services
> Total profit: $6.4 billion
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26. FM Global
> Profit per employee: $307,893
> Sector: Financials
> Total profit: $1.7 billion
25. T. Rowe Price
> Profit per employee: $309,026
> Sector: Financials
> Total profit: $2.4 billion
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24. Electronic Arts
> Profit per employee: $310,102
> Sector: Media
> Total profit: $3.0 billion
23. Blackstone Group
> Profit per employee: $330,300
> Sector: Financials
> Total profit: $1.0 billion
22. LGI Homes
> Profit per employee: $345,309
> Sector: Engineering and construction
> Total profit: $323.9 million
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21. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals
> Profit per employee: $385,093
> Sector: Health care
> Total profit: $3.5 billion
20. Apple
> Profit per employee: $390,551
> Sector: Technology
> Total profit: $57.4 billion
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19. Aflac
> Profit per employee: $398,067
> Sector: Financials
> Total profit: $4.8 billion
18. Monster Beverage
> Profit per employee: $422,036
> Sector: Food, beverages and tobacco
> Total profit: $1.4 billion
17. Biogen
> Profit per employee: $439,626
> Sector: Health care
> Total profit: $4.0 billion
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16. eBay
> Profit per employee: $446,220
> Sector: Technology
> Total profit: $5.7 billion
15. UWM Holdings
> Profit per employee: $451,000
> Sector: Financials
> Total profit: $3.4 billion
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14. Magellan Midstream Partners
> Profit per employee: $475,000
> Sector: Energy
> Total profit: $817 million
13. Bio-Rad Laboratories
> Profit per employee: $475,788
> Sector: Technology
> Total profit: $3.8 billion
12. CME Group
> Profit per employee: $481,739
> Sector: Financials
> Total profit: $2.1 billion
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11. Meta Platforms
> Profit per employee: $497,338
> Sector: Technology
> Total profit: $29.1 billion
10. Western Midstream Partners
> Profit per employee: $504,306
> Sector: Energy
> Total profit: $527 million
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9. Enterprise Products Partners
> Profit per employee: $529,537
> Sector: Energy
> Total profit: $3.8 billion
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8. Visa
> Profit per employee: $530,049
> Sector: Business services
> Total profit: $10.9 billion
7. Altria Group
> Profit per employee: $629,155
> Sector: Food, beverages and tobacco
> Total profit: $4.5 billion
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6. Vertex Pharmaceuticals
> Profit per employee: $797,529
> Sector: Health care
> Total profit: $2.7 billion
5. Freddie Mac
> Profit per employee: $1,058,365
> Sector: Financials
> Total profit: $7.3 billion
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4. NortonLifeLock
> Profit per employee: $1,079,722
> Sector: Technology
> Total profit: $3.9 billion
3. KKR
> Profit per employee: $1,265,003
> Sector: Financials
> Total profit: $2.0 billion
2. Fannie Mae
> Profit per employee: $1,533,117
> Sector: Financials
> Total profit: $11.8 billion
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1. Air Lease
> Profit per employee: $4,302,500
> Sector: Business services
> Total profit: $516.3 million
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