Microsoft named the world’s most powerful tech company

American tech giant Microsoft has been named the world's most powerful technology company in a new industry leaders list, according to Reuters.

On Wednesday, Thomson Reuters unveiled its first ever "Top 100 Global Technology Leaders" list. Microsoft took the top spot, with Intel and Cisco following in second and third place.

According to Reuters, the list is aimed at identifying the most "financially successful" and "organizationally sound organizations" in the global tech industry.

Surprisingly, neither Apple or Alphabet are ranked the most powerful technology companies, but they are in the top ten. IBM and Texas Instruments also fared well.

While the majority of the list's top businesses are based in America, Taiwanese Semiconductor Manufacturer, German software firm SAP and Dublin technology consulting Accenture are in the list's upper ranks.

Strangely, the rest of the list remains unranked, but it does profile 90 of the world's most prominent technology companies. These include social media firm Facebook and online retail giant Amazon.

Reuters ranked these companies across areas such as innovation, financial confidence, social responsibility and legal complicance.

"The results are based on a 28-factor algorithm that measures performance across eight benchmarks: financial, management and investor confidence, risk and resilience, legal compliance, innovation, people and social responsibility, environmental impact, and reputation," explained Reuters in its report.

"The assessment tracks patent activity for technological innovation and sentiment in news and selected social media as the reflection of a company's public reputation. The set of tech companies is restricted to those that have at least $1 billion in annual revenue."

Nearly half of the companies featured in the list (45 per cent) are based in the United States. Meanwhile, Japan and Taiwan are second place, with India following behind.

In terms of continents, North America dominates with 47 of the top companies, and Asia follows with 38 firms. Europe has also done well, with 14 tech businesses listed.