98% or More of the Market Cap of Apple, Costco and MasterCard is Attributed to IP-Related “Intangibles”
Aug 18
1 min read
Updated: 6 days ago
A recent study by the Center for Intellectual Property Understanding (CIPU) reveals that intangible assets—such as patents, trademarks, copyrights and data—now account for a staggering majority of the market capitalization for leading S&P 500 companies.
Key findings
The overall intangible asset market value of the S&P 500 has grown from 13% in 1975 to 92% today.
Apple, Nvidia and Broadcom each reach 98% IAMV, while MasterCard reaches 100%.
Industries rely on intangibles differently; Eli Lilly derives 99% of its market value from IP-related assets.
Current accounting practices often fail to reflect brands, patents, trade secrets and customer data.
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