The following article attempts to answer the question about the role transnational corporations (TNCs) play in the modern world. The issues discussed in this article have been presented in two main parts. The first part focuses on the world's largest TNCs according to the following criteria: the value of the revenues, market capitalization and foreign assets. The discussion in the second part focuses on defining the role that transnational corporations play in the world economy. A number of different characteristics reflecting the economic potential of TNCs have been used in this article such as: asset value, employment rate, sales volume and research and development po