A big chunk of global wealth drifts toward the US because the “toll roads” of the digital economy are overwhelmingly American. Some refer to this as techno-feudalism, named after the feudal land owners of mediaeval times.
When the world communicates, searches, watches, shops, works, pays, or builds software, it often does so on US-owned platforms (cloud, operating systems, app stores, ad networks, payment rails, enterprise software). Those platforms sit in the middle of transactions and workflows, so they can charge fees, earn subscription revenue, take a cut of commerce, or monetize attention via ads. Even small percentages become enormous when applied to global volume. Like that little 2% on every credit card transaction.
That cashflow doesn’t just stay as operating income. It turns into profits, stock buybacks, and dividends that primarily accrue to US shareholders and institutions. It also becomes high wages for US-based talent, and it attracts venture funding and startup formation into the same ecosystem, reinforcing the cycle.
There’s a second-order effect too: once a platform becomes the default, everyone else must integrate with it. That creates switching costs and network effects that let the platform set terms (pricing, rules, ranking, access). Countries outside the US often end up as “rent payers” on infrastructure they don’t control—paying recurring platform taxes in exchange for participation in modern digital life.
So the transfer isn’t a single event; it’s a continuous, compounding siphon: global usage → platform tolls → US corporate earnings → US capital markets and household wealth → more investment and dominance.
Below are 20 “infrastructure-like” global platforms (payments, cloud, operating systems/ecosystems, business software, and network/compute rails) that a huge share of modern life and commerce effectively depends on. Turnover = latest reported annual revenue (or TTM where noted). For private companies, turnover is estimated.
| Platform (company) | Country of origin | Turnover (latest) |
| Apple (iOS/App Store ecosystem) | USA | $416.161B (FY2025) |
| Microsoft (Windows/Azure/365/GitHub) | USA | $281.724B (FY2025) |
| Alphabet / Google (Search/Android/Cloud) | USA | $385.477B (TTM to Sep 30, 2025) |
| Amazon (AWS + commerce/logistics platform) | USA | $691.330B (TTM to Sep 30, 2025) |
| Meta (Facebook/Instagram/WhatsApp messaging + ads rails) | USA | $189.458B (TTM to Sep 30, 2025) |
| Netflix (global streaming distribution platform) | USA | $43.379B (TTM to Sep 30, 2025) |
| Visa (card payments network) | USA | $40.0B net revenue (FY2025) |
| Mastercard (card payments network) | USA | $31.474B (TTM to Sep 30, 2025) |
| PayPal (online payments wallet/processor) | USA | $32.862B (TTM to Sep 30, 2025) |
| Stripe (payments infrastructure) | Ireland | ~$5.1B (2024, estimated) |
| Xero (SMB accounting platform) | New Zealand | NZ$2.1B (FY2025, year to 31 Mar 2025) |
| Oracle (database + enterprise platforms) | USA | $57.399B (FY2025) |
| SAP (ERP/business backbone) | Germany | $40.364B (TTM to Sep 30, 2025) |
| IBM (enterprise IT + hybrid cloud/services) | USA | $65.402B (TTM to Sep 30, 2025) |
| Cisco (network infrastructure) | USA | $56.654B (FY2025) |
| Salesforce (CRM + enterprise platform) | USA | $37.895B (FY2025) |
| Adobe (document/content creation standards—PDF/Creative Cloud) | USA | $23.77B (FY2025) |
| Tencent (WeChat “super-app” + payments/identity rails) | China | RMB 660.3B / US$91.9B (FY2024) |
| Alibaba (commerce + cloud platform) | China | $137.3B (FY2025) |
| Samsung Electronics (mobile devices + chip supply platform) |
Here are 20 European(-origin) “infrastructure platform” competitors/alternatives that map pretty closely to the categories in your global list (cloud, payments rails, business software, telco/network gear, and semiconductor platforms). Turnover = latest reported annual revenue (or equivalent); for banks/fintechs this may be reported as net revenue or net operating income.
| European platform | Closest competitor(s) to… | Country of origin | Turnover (latest) |
|---|---|---|---|
| SAP | Oracle / Microsoft (enterprise backbone) | Germany | $40.364B (TTM to Sep 30, 2025) |
| Spotify | Netflix (subscription media distribution) | Sweden | €15.673B (FY2024 revenue) |
| OVHcloud | AWS / Azure / Google Cloud (IaaS/PaaS cloud) | France | €1.0846B (FY2025 revenue) |
| Adyen | Stripe / PayPal (merchant payments) | Netherlands | €2.0B (FY2024 net revenue) |
| Worldline | Stripe / Adyen / PayPal (payments processing) | France | €4.632B (FY2024 revenue) |
| Nexi | Visa/MC ecosystem enablers + merchant acquiring | Italy | €3.514B (FY2024 net revenues) |
| Klarna | PayPal / Affirm-style BNPL + checkout | Sweden | SEK 25.4B (FY2024 total net operating income) |
| Revolut | PayPal-ish consumer fintech “super app” | UK | £3.1B (FY2024 revenue) |
| Wise | PayPal/Xoom-style cross-border money transfer | UK | £1.2B (FY2025 revenue) |
| Sage | Xero (SMB accounting + payroll) | UK | £2,332m (FY2024 underlying total revenue) |
| Dassault Systèmes | Adobe / Autodesk (design/engineering software standards) | France | €6.21B (FY2024 total revenue) |
| Deutsche Telekom | “The network” beneath everything (connectivity) | Germany | €115.8B (FY2024 total revenue) |
| Orange | Connectivity + enterprise network services | France | €40.260B (FY2024 revenues) |
| Vodafone | Connectivity + enterprise network services | UK | €37.4B (FY2025 total revenue) |
| Nokia | Cisco (network infrastructure & telecom equipment) | Finland | €19.220B (FY2024 net sales) |
| Ericsson | Cisco (telecom equipment / networks) | Sweden | SEK 247.9B (FY2024 net sales) |
| ASML | “Compute supply chain” underpinning Apple/Samsung/etc. | Netherlands | €28.3B (FY2024 total net sales) |
| Arm | Device/edge compute platform used by Apple/Samsung/etc. | UK | $4.007B (FY ended 31 Mar 2025 revenue) |
| Infineon | Semiconductor platform (power/auto/IoT) | Germany | €14.955B (FY2024 revenue) |
| STMicroelectronics | Semiconductor platform (auto/industrial/IoT) | France/Italy (merged origins) | $13.27B (FY2024 revenues) |