It's a similar answer to empire as these would have been the famous English East India Company, established in 1600, and the Dutch East India Company, established in 1602, which would have been the first corporations to operate across (that much of) the globe, with officers and employees from Europe to Indonesia. They were also instruments for empire, however, often exercising what amounted to governmental powers in the locales where they set up shop.

I think your question is confusing - are you asking when the first corporation existed that simply kept operating 24/7 like a modern 7/11, or are you asking for a corporation that spanned the globe to a sufficient degree (which A-capital-fellow) assumed?