What you need to know about the tech giants

Some of the world’s biggest technology companies make up FAANG, including Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google, plus Microsoft. Here’s a closer look.

FACEBOOK Facebook Inc. is based in Menlo Park, Calif. Founded in 2004 by Harvard students, including current CEO Mark Zuckerberg, it was originally meant to connect students at the Ivy League school. Since then, the company has become the quintessential social network, acquiring other companies such as WhatsApp and Instagram in its portfolio. Market Cap: $507.1 billion (all figures U.S.) (All market capitalization as of Aug. 25, 2019 Revenue: $62.6 billion

Employees: 37,700 Canadian offices: Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa and Vancouver. Users: 1.56 billion users worldwide (24 million in Canada)

AMAZON: Amazon.com Inc., is based in Seattle, Wash., and is known for revolutionizing the world of e-commerce. Founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos, it was originally an online bookseller but expanded rapidly to include just about everything, including acquisition of bricks and mortar companies such as Whole Foods.

Market Cap: $865.5 billion Revenue: $252.1 billion Employees: 630,000 worldwide, 100,000 in Canada.

Canadian offices: Toronto, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Victoria and Montreal and eight fulfilment centres in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario. Amazon Prime members: More than 100 million

APPLE: Apple Inc., based in Cupertino, Calif., makes the ubiquitous iPhone along with the iPad and other products such as the Apple Watch. Founded in 1976 to sell personal computers by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne, it has evolved into a consumer lifestyle company including ownership of iTunes, the world’s largest music retailer. It is consistently on the top of the list of the world’s most valuable brands.

Market Cap: $915.8 billion Revenue: $259 billion Employees: 123,000 worldwide Canadian office: Headquarters Toronto, 29 retail outlets across Canada

NETFLIX: Netlfix Inc., based in Los Gatos, Calif., is the world’s largest subscription-based streaming service. Founded by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in 1997, the company was initially in the business of mail-order DVDs. But it eventually shifted focus to streaming media, and went on an aggressive expansion plan to build a library of Netflix Originals. Market Cap: $127.6 billion Revenue:

$17.6 billion Employees: 7,100 worldwide Canadian office: Toronto production hub (to be completed)

ALPHABET (Parent company of Google): Alphabet Inc. is based in Mountain View, Calif. Founded in 1998 by Stanford PhD students Larry Page and Sergey Brin. The company’s core division is Google, which is the world’s most popular search engine. But there are many other divisions including YouTube, Gmail and hardware such as the Google Pixel smartphone. Market Cap: $799.6 billion 2018 Revenue: $148.3 billion Employees: 100,000 worldwide, 1,200 in Canada. Canadian offices: Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa and Kitchener-Waterloo

MICROSOFT: Microsoft Corp, based in Redmond, Wash., develops, designs and licenses software products including the popular Microsoft Windows line.

Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, it dominated the personal computer market with MS-DOS. Today the company is also involved in cloud computing and the manufacture of tablets, gaming and entertainment devices such as Xbox video game consoles.

In 2018, the company surpassed Apple as the most valuable company in the world. Market Cap: $1 trillion Revenues: $125.8 billion Employees: 131,000 worldwide Canadian offices: 11 in total, including Toronto, Mississauga, Quebec City, Montreal, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton and 3 offices in Vancouver