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		Apple Inc. is one of the world’s best-known and perhaps favourite companies. It has earned the reputation as being an innovative leader in the fields of personal computers, software, music players, mobile phones and digital music distribution. The company was started by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in 1976. In 2010, it became the world’s most valuable computer company. Apple has succeeded by providing consumers with high quality, groundbreaking products. Almost everything Apple produces creates a media frenzy. The brand loyalty the company enjoys is the envy of any business. The company’s product range is a list of stunning commercial successes, from the iMac to iTunes, the iPod, iPad and iPhone. ‘Fortune’ magazine says Apple is the world’s most admired company.



		eBay Inc. is the world’s leading e-commerce company. It was founded as an online auction site in 1995 called AuctionWeb by Pierre Omidyar. He said: “What I wanted to do was create an efficient market, where regular people could compete with big business…It was a little bit of an experiment.” He changed the name in 1997 to be similar to his company Echo Bay Technology Group. Within two years of starting, the company hosted 2,000,000 auctions. The company website explains the success story to date: “With more than 90 million active users globally, eBay is the world's largest online marketplace, where practically anyone can buy and sell practically anything…In 2009, the total worth of goods sold on eBay was $60 billion -- $2,000 every second.” The company employs over 15,000 people throughout the world.



		The Gap, Inc. is an American clothing and accessories retail chain based in San Francisco. It was founded in 1969 by Don G. Fisher and Doris F. Fisher. Don Fisher said: “I created Gap with a simple idea: to make it easier to find a pair of jeans. We remain committed to that basic principle.” The company has four brands besides Gap: Banana Republic, Old Navy, Piperlime and Athleta. The Gap brand includes GapKids, babyGap and gapbody. The company employs roughly 135,000 people in nearly 3,500 stores worldwide. The chain’s annual revenue is around $15 billion a year. It is currently the world’s second largest clothing retailer. The company website outlines its philosophy: “The focus at Gap Inc. is pretty simple: customers, creativity, doing what's right, and delivering results. Together, we call it ‘wearing your passion.’"



		Nike is one of the world’s leading sportswear and equipment manufacturers. It leads the world in sales of athletic shoes. The company was founded in 1964 by Bill Bowerman and Philip Knight. Its first name was Blue Ribbon Sports but that changed to Nike in 1978. Nike is the Greek goddess of victory. It is famous for its slogan, “Just Do It” and the Swoosh logo, which Nike first used in 1971. Blue Ribbon’s first product was a soccer shoe called Nike. A major factor in Nike’s success is its sponsorship of top sports stars. Tennis ace Ilie Nastase was the first. Subsequent tie-ups with superstars like basketball’s Michael Jordan and golfer Tiger Woods accelerated Nike’s corporate success. Nike has had to defend itself against criticism that its products are made by children and workers paid below the legal minimum wage in sweatshops.



		Puma is a German manufacturer of sports shoes, and lifestyle and other sportswear. It was founded in 1924 by brothers Rudolf and Adolf Dassler. They became famous at the 1936 Olympic Games in Munich. Adolf persuaded U.S. sprinter Jesse Owens to wear the athletics spikes he designed. Owens won four gold medals and the Dasslers’ shoes became famous among the world's sportsmen. Many top athletes have preferred Puma shoes, from footballers Pele and Maradona to the sprinter Usain Bolt and most Formula One drivers. Puma employs around 9,500 staff and generates around $3 billion in annual revenues. Its products are sold in nearly one hundred countries. Its website says: “Puma has the long-term mission of becoming the most desirable and sustainable sports lifestyle company.”



		Twitter is one of the most popular social networking and micro-blogging services in the world. It allows account users to send 140-character updates on anything they choose, and for people to follow different users. It was created in 2006 by Jack Dorsey and now has more than 100 million users. Dorsey describes the word “twitter” as being “just perfect”. He said it means "a short burst of inconsequential information… and that’s exactly what the product was.” Twitter is used to keep in contact with friends, to network and keep up-to-date professionally, and as a source of world news. One analyst described 41% of twitter messages as being “pointless babble”. Twitter is one of the 50-highest-ranked websites and is rising steadily. It has enormous growth and revenue potential.



		Levi’s have been the most famous brand of jeans and denim clothing for decades. Levi Strauss & Co. was founded in 1853 when Levi Strauss emigrated from Germany to San Francisco to help with his brothers’ dry goods business. The company began producing denim overalls in the 1870s but did not start making jeans until the 1920s. Strauss and his partner Jacob Davis patented the copper rivet to reinforce clothing in 1873. It was to become a key part of their jeans design. The demand for their jeans skyrocketed in WWII. This saw their sales staff grow from 15 before the War to 22,000 in 35 countries just after it. Levi's jeans became popular with young people in the 1950s and ‘60s. The 501 was then, and is today, their biggest-selling product. The company leads the fashion industry in the number of trademark infringement cases.



		FedEx, or Federal Express, is an international logistics company. It began operations in 1973 and has grown to serve and reach every corner of the world. The company website gives an overview: “FedEx provides customers and businesses worldwide with a broad portfolio of transportation, e-commerce and business services…Consistently ranked among the world's most admired and trusted employers, FedEx inspires its more than 275,000 employees and contractors to remain absolutely, positively focused on safety, the highest ethical and professional standards and the needs of their customers and communities.” FedEx is regularly honored as a top company to work for and is often on ‘Fortune’ magazine’s list of the most admired global companies.