When measuring business efficiency, profit per employee tells a powerful story. In 2024, one company left the world’s largest banks and tech titans far behind: Tether. Here’s how Tether and other giants compare—and why Tether’s model is so uniquely profitable.

The 2024 Ranking: Profit Per Employee

1. Tether

• Profit per employee: ~$65 million+
  

• GAAP Net Income: $13+ billion
  

• Employees: Fewer than 200
  

Tether, the issuer of USDT, the world’s dominant stablecoin, is in a class of its own. With under 200 employees and over $13 billion in net profit, Tether’s profit per employee is more than 100 times higher than any traditional bank or tech company. This outsized result comes from three main drivers:

1. USDT’s Market Leadership: Tether’s stablecoin is used globally for crypto trading, payments, and remittances, with circulation exceeding $100 billion.
   

2. Massive Treasury Yields: Tether invests USDT reserves (mostly in U.S. Treasuries), earning billions in interest as rates have risen.
   

3. Ultra-Lean Operations: Without physical branches or a legacy workforce, Tether operates with a tiny, specialized team.
   

Tether’s business model—earning interest on a huge reserve base with almost no incremental overhead—makes it the world’s most profitable company per employee by a huge margin.

2. NVIDIA

• Profit per employee: ~$1.0 million
  

• GAAP Net Income: $29.8 billion
  

• Employees: 29,600
  

Fueled by explosive demand for AI chips, NVIDIA tops the list among public companies. Their high-margin, high-demand business delivers over $1 million in profit per employee.

3. Meta Platforms (Facebook)

• Profit per employee: ~$842,000
  

• GAAP Net Income: $62.4 billion
  

• Employees: 74,067
  

Despite layoffs and cost cuts, Meta’s advertising and social media dominance keep its profit per employee exceptionally high, even as the company grows.

4. Apple

• Profit per employee: ~$571,000
  

• GAAP Net Income: $93.7 billion
  

• Employees: 164,000
  

Apple’s design, hardware, and services ecosystem consistently deliver world-beating profits, with remarkable efficiency for a company of its scale.

5. Microsoft

• Profit per employee: ~$387,000
  

• GAAP Net Income: $88.1 billion
  

• Employees: 228,000
  

Microsoft’s cloud and software businesses are highly scalable, pushing profit per employee higher as recurring revenue grows.

6. Goldman Sachs

• Profit per employee: ~$307,000
  

• GAAP Net Income: $14.3 billion
  

• Employees: 46,500
  

Goldman remains a banking powerhouse, but its profit per employee is still dwarfed by the digital giants.

7. JPMorgan Chase

• Profit per employee: ~$184,000
  

• GAAP Net Income: $58.5 billion
  

• Employees: 317,233
  

JPMorgan is the world’s largest bank by profit, but with a massive workforce and branch network, its efficiency per employee lags behind tech companies.

8. Amazon

• Profit per employee: ~$38,000
  

• GAAP Net Income: $59.2 billion
  

• Employees: 1,556,000
  

Amazon is a logistics and cloud titan, but its vast global workforce (from warehouses to engineers) pulls down its profit per employee.

The Bottom Line

Tether’s unique business model—massive financial flows, almost zero marginal costs, and minimal headcount—makes it the world’s most profitable company per employee. The scale of this gap is historic, and no bank or tech firm comes remotely close.