A new ranking names some of San Antonians’ most-visited storefronts as the most reputable companies in Texas. Businesses in the technology, retail, healthcare, and energy sectors were considered.
The report, published on Monday, October 6, comes from Merco, a corporate reputation monitoring website. Researchers looked at social media mentions, over a thousand survey responses, and social impact metrics to identify the top 100 companies with the best reputation in the Lone Star State. The 50 leading local business leaders were also included.
“Driving reputation means building trust with different stakeholders to boost business growth,” Merco CEO Jose Maria San Segundo said in the report. “American business leaders understand this well, as it is in the U.S. where the very concept of corporate reputation was developed.”
The store known for doing more came out on top. H-E-B led the top 10, and was followed by Dell Technologies, Toyota, AT&T, Apple, Texas Instruments, Microsoft Corporation, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and Amazon. It’s far from the first time the grocer sees praise. Earlier this year, it was dubbed the best grocery store in the U.S., holding on to a three-year-long title.
Well-known entities such as USAA, Buc-ee’s, and Whataburger Restaurants LLC made the top 20, which likely won’t come as a surprise to locals. The financial banking institution took home the gold in a similar ranking last year, and the latter two are beloved by tourists and natives alike. However, technological sectors outshone the list as a whole. The category saw 16 mentions, the most of any other.
When it came to healthcare, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Texas Children’s Hospital, and Baylor Scott & White Health ranked the highest. Meanwhile, the energy sector was championed by ExxonMobil and Chevron.
The internet can be a judgmental place, which is harmful in most cases, but helpful in identifying reputation status. Researchers analyzed about 738,000 social media mentions in Texas, including both owned channels and third-party mentions, to create the 2025 list. They also interviewed 200 senior leaders from companies with over $50 million in revenue, and gathered perspectives from over 2350 Texas consumers.
Merco identified the state’s corporate “elites” to be Dell’s Michael Dell, H-E-B’s Charles Butt, and Tesla’s Elon Musk, in that order. They were followed by Apple’s Tim Cook, Entrepreneur Mark Cuban, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, and AT&T’s John Stankey. The list was rounded out by Southwest Airlines’ Robert Jordan, H-E-B’s Howard Butt III, and Jewelry designer Kendra Scott.
Dell recently caught the public’s attention with his $400 million Hawaii land purchase, where he already owns a Four Seasons Resort Hualalai and the Hualalai Golf Course. Forbes lists Dell as the 17th richest billionaire in the world, with an estimated net worth of $97.7 billion.