Which Japanese company was the world’s most valuable company by market capitalization at the end of 1989?

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone was the world’s most valuable company by market capitalization at the end of 1989.

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone, commonly known as NTT, reached extraordinary market value during Japan’s late-1980s asset-price bubble. At the end of 1989, its capitalization was widely reported as the largest in the world, ahead of major U.S. corporations.

NTT had been established as a public corporation in 1985 after the breakup and privatization of Japan’s former state telephone monopoly. Its initial public offering became one of the largest and most closely watched stock offerings of the period.

The record is historical, not a statement about NTT’s current ranking. Japan’s bubble economy peaked around 1989, and the subsequent market collapse sharply changed valuations across Japanese equities. NTT later reorganized its operations into several major group companies, including NTT East, NTT West, and NTT Communications.