FAANG (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google) became dominant global platforms from ~2010 onward
mobile, cloud, and internet scale pushed them into everyday communication, shopping, entertainment, and work
each company reached massive market capitalization and shaped consumer behavior worldwide
Big Tech became the main driver of U.S. equity returns and digital innovation
software-based, network-driven firms replaced industrial-era giants as the core of the economy

What Drove the Transformation

network effects made platforms stronger as users grew
mobile + cloud made services global, always-on, and low-cost to distribute
data at scale enabled targeted ads, recommendations, and personalized experiences
new models—streaming (NFLX), e-commerce + logistics (AMZN), app ecosystems (AAPL), digital ads (META/GOOGL)—created recurring, scalable revenue
massive reinvestment in AI, cloud infrastructure, logistics, hardware, and content built durable moats
winner-take-most dynamics favored companies with scale, platforms, and global reach

The Economic Lessons

digital platforms achieve extreme dominance through scale, network effects, and near-zero marginal cost
software businesses expand globally with minimal capital, generating extraordinary operating leverage
data becomes a compounding asset that strengthens product quality and monetization over time
owning the platform (OS, cloud, marketplace, social graph) produces the deepest, most durable moats
Big Tech’s rise also highlights risks: concentration, privacy issues, regulatory scrutiny, and system-wide influence

The Rise of Big Tech (FAANG era)