Revenue per employee: Apple not at the top
Apple impresses with $2.4 million in revenue per employee, but doesn't lead the industry comparison. Two companies significantly surpass Apple.
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Each of Apple's 166,000 full-time employees generates $2.4 million in annual revenue. In many cases, revenue is likely to be many times the cost of the respective employee. However, despite its great success on the stock market, Apple is far from being at the forefront in terms of revenue per employee: two companies in the tech sector are ahead of Apple. Compared to all industries, Apple's figure even appears quite modest.
The figures were calculated by the financial platform OnDeck. It advises small businesses on finding appropriate wages. Revenue per employee is a key figure for measuring a company's efficiency, OnDeck writes in a blog post in a blog post. And, not surprisingly, Apple, which repeatedly makes headlines with record results, ranks quite high in this regard.
Apple ranks 3rd in the tech sector
Among tech companies, the chip manufacturer Nvidia is at the top. Here, revenue per employee is around $4.41 million. The data was current as of August 2025. Close behind is the streaming provider Netflix with $4.15 million per employee. The high figure is explained by a relatively small workforce of around 9,600 employees combined with a high overall revenue. Following Apple are Meta ($2.2 million USD/employee), Alphabet ($1.9 million), Uber ($1.4 million), Microsoft ($1.1 million), Tesla ($761,708 USD), Adobe ($734,666 USD), and Salesforce ($498,684 USD).
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The top performer across all industries in the USA is the investment firm VICI Properties, which specializes in real estate. Its 27 employees each generate annual revenue of around $142 million. Globally, the Indian mining company Rajesh Exports is at the forefront. The company, which specializes in gold mining, generated revenue of $307 million per employee. In comparison, looking at US fast-food restaurants, the $172,800 per employee from McDonald's and the $171,185 per employee from Starbucks appear almost modest.
Money isn't everything
However, the authors of the analysis emphasize that money is ultimately not everything. The calculation of how much revenue is generated per employee is primarily an approach to looking at employees positively and not just as a cost factor. A happy team and strong business results usually go hand in hand. Therefore, topics such as safety, health, company culture, identification with the task, career development, and fair pay are closely linked to success.
(mki)
