One of the most recognizable companies in the world is about to cement its grip on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and it's not who you think.

While Apple Inc. enters the average Thursday, it's Goldman Sachs Group Inc. that will see its influence on the 118-year-old gauge solidified, garnering the biggest weighting after a stock split this week by Visa Inc. New York-based Goldman Sachs, with a 7.1 percent share, will be the first bank to hold the top spot since JPMorgan Chase & Co. in 2000.

It's testament to the quirkiness of the Dow's listing structure that Apple, the world's most valuable company at $748 billion in market value, will take a backseat to a company that's just over a 10th its size. Apple ranked as the ninth most-loved company in a Harris Poll earlier this year, while Goldman Sachs came in as the least loved.