Berkshire Hathaway Inc. beat out Apple Inc. and Walt Disney Co. to top Barron’s 2013 World's Most Respected Companies list released July 1. Rankings are compiled based on company performance and investment strategies; Berkshire Hathaway jumped to No. 1 from No. 15 last year.

HomeServices of America, joint owner of HSF Affiliates LLC—which operates Prudential Real Estate, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices and Real Living Real Estate—is a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate.

The top ten world’s most respected companies are as follows:

1. Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
2. Walt Disney Co.
3. Apple Inc.
4. Google Inc.
5. Coca-Cola Co.
6. Amazon.com Inc.
7. 3M Co.
8. McDonald’s Corp.
9. United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS)
10. International Business Machines Corp. (IBM)