Southern Company Again Named to Prestigious World’s Most Admired Companies List

Southern Company

Southern Company was again named to FORTUNE’s list of the World’s Most Admired Companies for 2025. The company was listed No. 1 in the electric and gas utilities industry in social responsibility to the community and the environment, financial soundness and long-term investment value.

Dating back to its early beginnings, Southern Company has operated under the ethos of “being a citizen wherever we serve,” ensuring positive impact on each community within the places we live and work. The robust economic activity in the Southeast, complimented by constructive regulatory environments, provides a sound foundation for regular, predictable and sustainable long-term growth.

Exemplifying its recognition for financial soundness, every quarter for 77 consecutive years, Southern Company has paid a dividend to its shareholders that is equal to or greater than the previous quarter.

The World's Most Admired Companies list is the definitive report card on corporate reputation. Since 1997, FORTUNE has identified, selected and ranked the World's Most Admired Companies, identifying the business practices that make these companies highly regarded among their peers.

Southern Company’s overall score rose from 6.4 in 2023 to 6.9 in 2024, ranking as one of the top two electric and gas utilities in eight of the nine graded attributes. Among its peers, Southern Company ascended to No. 2 in the categories of innovativeness and wise use of corporate assets. This latest edition saw the company ranked as the world’s No. 2 most-admired electric and gas utility overall.

The ranking bookends a robust 2024 year for Southern Company, highlighted by the completion of the Plant Vogtle expansion project that saw the site emerge as the largest generator of clean energy in the United States. Also garnering recognition was the systemwide efforts made during the recovery from Hurricane Helene, one of the most-devastating storms in the history of the Southern Company service territory. Further details regarding recent accolades collected by the company can be found on the Southern Company website.

Survey Methodology

Fortune collaborated with Korn Ferry on this survey of corporate reputations. The publication began with about 1,500 candidates from a pool of the 1,000 largest U.S. companies ranked by revenue, along with non-U.S. companies in Fortune’s Global 500 database that have revenues of $10 billion or more. The list was narrowed to the highest-revenue companies in each industry, a total of 650 in 30 countries. The top-rated companies were picked from that pool of 650; the executives who voted work at the companies in that group.

To determine the best-regarded companies in 51 industries, Korn Ferry asked executives, directors, and analysts to rate enterprises in their own industry on nine criteria, from investment value and quality of management and products to social responsibility and ability to attract talent. A company’s score must rank in the top half of its industry survey to be listed.