Fortune 500
Strictly speaking, the Fortune 500 is a list compiled by Fortune magazine raking the top 500 public corporations of the US as measured by their gross revenue. The names that grace the list however command such power and wealth that the Fortune 500 has come to define American business, as well as being defined by it.
Similar lists exist including the Forbes Top 500 Private Companies, Fortune Global 500, Financial Times 500, and Business Week's Global 1000. Each list takes into account different ranking criteria, but none are as prestigious as the original.
In today's business world the corporations that make up the Fortune 500 wield enormous power and influence government policy on a regular basis, as is evidenced by the appointment of Henry M Paulson, CEO of Goldman Sachs, as Treasury Secretary for the United States.
With 2005 profits of US$610 billion, the corporations comprising the Fortune 500 could buy the entire annual economic output of the nations of Brazil, India or South Korea.
Even more impressive, with revenues of US$ 9.1 trillion, if the Fortune 500 were seen as a nation they would have the second largest economy in the world, bigger than the economies of the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Japan combined. If the Fortune 500 constituted a nation they could absorb the US budget deficit for 2006/2007 in its entirety.
History and Influence of Fortune 500
Since 1955 Fortune magazine has produced an annual list of the 500 US corporations with the highest gross revenue. The rankings are based on the revenue figures for each company's previous fiscal year (the end date for which may differ from company to company). The Fortune 100 is the top 100 corporations from the 500 list and the Fortune 1000 is the extended version. Both use the same ranking criteria.
Aside from simply detailing the biggest revenue generating corporations, the Fortune 500 list allows us to see a snapshot of America's commercial progress, where the money has gone and how it's moved to new industries over time.
The growth of opportunities brought in by the building of interstate highways changed the way Americans do business, transport goods, how they travel, shop and where they live. The companies that rose to the opportunities presented by the more than 42,000 miles of highway that were laid from Lose Angeles to New Jersey by the mid 1970's soon found a place on the list.
Chain retailers such as McDonald's and hotel chains like Holiday Inn made the most of the way the interstate was changing American life and profited hugely from it.
The new roads also had a profound impact on corporations in the South of the US with the likes of Coca-Cola, Wal-Mart, Home Depot and Fedex now able to grow and succeed in a way that would not have been possible before. And it helped to shape General Motors, one of the biggest names on the list.
The emergence of credit cards as the preferred method of purchasing has also been influential in the creation of the list, with corporations moving up and down, appearing or disappearing according to how innovative they are about taking payments. Reward cards, smart cards, payroll cards and even embedded credit chips are just a few of the ways corporations are attempting to entice Americans to spend money in the future. The easier it is to spend money, the more consumers spend. Simple.
The Fortune 500 list is also a showcase of adaptability. As consumer's wants change corporations must adapt to meet that demand or risk loosing their place to another who will. Pepsi is one such example of a corporation seeking to meet changing consumer demands. As one of the US's largest manufacturers of snacks, the corporation is now having to come to terms with the consumer's desire for healthy alternatives and look at ways to profitably rise to the challenge.
Fortune 500 Facts and Stats
- In 2005 the combined profits of the corporations on the Fortune 500 list were US$610 billion.
- 490 of the Fortune 500 CEOs are men, only 10 are women. Among the top 100 there are no female CEOs.
- Katharine Graham of the Washington Post was the first female executive to run a Fortune 500 company when it joined the list in 1972.
- 5 million workers are employed by the 10 largest Fortune 500 employers which includes McDonald's, Sears, Home Depot Wal-Mart, and Target.
- In 2005, for the first time in the history of the list, Texas displaced New York as the state with the largest number of Fortune 500 companies headquartered there.
- The Bank of New York, founded in 1784, is the oldest company on the Fortune 500 list.
- DuPont has been on every list since the first one was published in 1955.
- There is a Fortune 500 boardgame, released by Pressman Toy in 1980 which companies paid US$30,000 each to be included in.
The Fortune 500
- Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
- Exxon Mobil Corporation
- ChevronTexaco Corporation
- General Electric Company
- Bank of America Corporation
- ConocoPhillips
- AT&T Corp
- Ford Motor Company
- J.P. Morgan Chase & Co
- Hewlett-Packard Company
- Berkshire Hathaway
- Citigroup Inc
- Verizon Communications
- McKesson Corporation
- General Motors Corporation
- American International Group
- Cardinal Health, Inc
- CVS Caremark
- Wells Fargo & Company
- International Business Machines Corporation
- United Health Group Inc
- Procter & Gamble Co
- The Kroger Co
- AmerisourceBergen Corporation
- Costco Wholesale Corp.
- Valero Energy Corp
- Archer-Daniels-Midland Company
- The Boeing Company
- Home Depot, Inc.
- Target Corporation
- WellPoint Health Networks
- Walgreen Company
- Johnson & Johnson
- State Farm Insurance
- Medco Health Solutions Inc
- Microsoft Corporation
- United Technologies Corporation
- Dell, Inc
- Goldman Sachs Group
- Pfizer Inc.
- Marathon Oil Corp.
- Lowe's Companies, Inc.
- United Parcel Service of America, Inc
- Lockheed Martin Corporation
- Best Buy Co., Inc.
- The Dow Chemical Company
- Supervalu Inc
- Sears Holdings Corporation
- International Assets Holding
- PepsiCo, Inc.
- MetLife, Inc.
- Safeway Inc.
- Kraft Foods
- Freddie Mac
- SYSCO Corporation
- Apple Computer, Inc
- The Walt Disney Company
- Cisco Systems, Inc.
- Comcast Corporation
- FedEx Corporation
- Northrop Grumman Corporation
- Intel Corporation
- Aetna Inc.
- New York Life Insurance Company
- Prudential Financial, Inc
- Caterpillar Inc.
- Sprint
- The Allstate Corporation
- General Dynamics Corporation
- Morgan Stanley
- Liberty Mutual
- The Coca-Cola Company
- Humana Inc.
- Honeywell International
- Abbott Laboratories
- News Corp
- HCA Inc.
- Sunoco Inc
- Amerada Hess Corporation
- Ingram Micro
- Fannie Mae
- Time Warner Inc.
- Johnson Controls, Inc.
- Delta Air Lines Inc
- Merck & Co Inc
- DuPont
- Tyson Foods Inc
- American Express Company
- Rite Aid Corporation
- TIAA-CREF
- CHS Inc
- Enterprise GP Holdings
- MassMutual Financial Group
- Philip Morris International
- Raytheon Company
- Express Scripts
- Hartford Financial Services Group
- Travelers Cos
- Publix Super Markets
- Amazon.com Inc.
- Staples, Inc.
- Macy's
- International Paper Company
- Oracle Corporation
- 3M Company
- Deere & Company
- McDonald's Corporation
- Tech Data Corporation
- Motorola Inc
- Fluor Corporation
- Eli Lilly and Co
- Coca-Cola Enterprises
- Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.
- The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company
- The Directv Group Inc
- Emerson Electric Co
- Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co
- TJX Companies, Inc.
- American Airlines - AMR
- U.S. Bancorp
- GMAC
- The PNC Financial Services Group
- Nike Inc.
- Murphy Oil Corp
- Kimberly-Clark Corp
- Alcoa
- Plains All American Pipeline, L. P.
- CIGNA Corporation
- AFLAC Incorporated
- Time Warner Cable
- United Services Automobile Association
- J.C. Penney Company, Inc.
- Exelon Corporation
- Kohl's Corporation
- Whirlpool Corporation
- Altria Group Inc
- Computer Sciences Corporation
- Tesoro Petroleum Corp
- UAL Corporation(United Airlines)
- Goodyear Tire & Rubber
- Avnet, Inc.
- Manpower Inc.
- Capital One Financial Corp
- Southern Company
- Health Net, Inc.
- FPL Group Inc
- L-3 Communications Hldgs.
- Constellation Energy Group
- Occidental Petroleum Corp
- Colgate-Palmolive
- Xerox Corporation
- Dominion Resources
- Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold
- General Mills, Inc.
- The AES Corporation
- Arrow Electronics, Inc.
- Halliburton Company
- Amgen Inc
- Medtronic, Inc.
- Progressive Corp.
- Gap, Inc.
- Smithfield Foods, Inc.
- Union Pacific Corp
- Loews Corporation
- EMC Corporation
- Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation
- Coventry Health Care, Inc
- Illinois Tool Works Inc.
- Viacom International Inc
- Toys R Us, Inc.
- American Electric Power
- PG&E Corporation
- Pepsi Bottling
- Consolidated Edison, Inc.
- Chubb Corporation
- CBS
- ConAgra Foods, Inc.
- FirstEnergy
- Sara Lee Corp
- Duke Energy Corporation
- National Oilwell Varco
- Continental Airlines, Inc
- Kellogg
- Baxter International Inc.
- Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated
- Edison International
- Qwest Communications
- Aramark Corporation
- PPG Industries, Inc.
- Community Health Systems
- Office Depot, Inc.
- KBR
- Eaton Corporation
- Dollar General Corp
- Waste Management, Inc.
- Monsanto Company
- Omnicom Group Inc.
- Jabil Circuit
- DISH Network
- TRW Automotive Holdings Corp.
- Navistar International Corp
- Jacobs Engineering Group
- Sun Microsystems Inc.
- World Fuel Services Corp.
- Nucor Corporation
- Danaher Corporation
- Dean Foods Company
- ONEOK Inc
- Liberty Global
- United States Steel
- AutoNation, Inc.
- Marriott International Inc.
- ITT Industries, Inc.
- SAIC
- Yum! Brands, Inc.
- BB&T Corporation
- Cummins Inc
- Entergy Corporation
- Textron Inc.
- Marsh & McLennan Co's
- US Airways Inc
- Texas Instruments
- SunTrust Banks Inc
- Qualcomm Inc
- Land O'Lakes
- Liberty Media Corp
- Avon Products, Inc.
- Southwest Airlines Co.
- Parker Hannifin Corp
- Mosaic
- BJ's Wholesale Club, Inc.
- H.J. Heinz Company
- Fisher Scientific International Inc
- UnumProvident
- Genuine Parts
- Guardian Life of America
- Peter Kiewit Sons'
- Progress Energy
- R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company
- Starbucks Corporation
- Lear Corporation
- Baker Hughes
- Xcel Energy Inc
- Penske Automotive Group
- Energy Future Holdings
- Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea
- Fifth Third Bancorp
- State Street Corporation
- First Data Corp
- Pepco Holdings, Inc.
- URS
- Tenet Healthcare Corp.
- Regions Financial Corp.
- GameStop
- Lincoln National Corporation
- Genworth Financial
- XTO Energy
- CSX Corporation
- Anadarko Petroleum Corporation
- Devon Energy Corporation
- Praxair Inc
- NRG Energy
- Harrah's Entertainment Inc
- Automated Data Processing
- Principal Financial Group
- eBay
- Assurant Inc
- Limited Brands
- Nordstrom, Inc.
- Apache Corporation
- Reynolds American Inc
- Air Products and Chemicals Inc.
- Bank of New York Co.
- CenterPoint Energy Inc
- Williams Companies, Inc.
- Smith International, Inc.
- Republic Services
- Boston Scientific Corp.
- Sempra Energy
- Ashland
- PACCAR Inc
- Owens & Minor, Inc.
- Whole Foods Market, Inc.
- DTE Energy Company
- Discover Financial Services
- Norfolk Southern Corporation
- Ameriprise Financial
- Crown Holdings Inc.
- Icahn Enterprises
- Masco Corporation
- Cablevision Systems Corp.
- Huntsman
- Synnex
- Newmont Mining Corporation
- Chesapeake Energy
- Eastman Kodak Company
- Aon Corporation
- Campbell Soup Company
- PPL Corporation
- C.H. Robinson Worldwide
- Integrys Energy Group
- Quest Diagnostics Incorporated
- Western Digital
- Family Dollar Stores, Inc.
- Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc.
- Ball Corporation
- Estee Lauder Co.
- Shaw Group
- VF Corporation
- Darden Restaurants, Inc.
- Becton, Dickinson and Company
- OfficeMax Inc
- Bed Bath & Beyond Inc.
- Kinder Morgan Management LLC
- Ross Stores Inc
- Pilgrim's Pride Corp
- Hertz Global Holdings
- Sherwin-Williams Company
- Ameren Corporation
- Reinsurance Group of America
- Owens-Illinois, Inc.
- CarMax
- Gilead Sciences
- Precision Castparts
- Visa
- Commercial Metals Company
- WellCare Health Plans
- AutoZone, Inc.
- Western Refining
- Dole Food Company Inc
- Charter Communications
- Stryker Corporation
- Goodrich Corporation
- Visteon Corporation
- NiSource
- AGCO Corporation
- Calpine Corporation
- Henry Schein Inc
- Hormel Foods Corporation
- Affiliated Computer Services, Inc
- Thrivent Investment Management
- Yahoo
- American Family Insurance
- Sonic Automotive, Inc
- Peabody Energy
- Omnicare, Incorporated
- Dillard's Inc
- WW Grainger, Inc
- CMS Energy Corporation
- Fortune Brands Inc
- AECOM Technology
- Symantec
- SLM Corp
- DaVita
- KeyCorp
- MeadWestvaco Corp
- The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc
- Virgin Media
- MGM Mirage Inc
- The First American Corporation
- Avery Dennison Corporation
- The McGraw-Hill Companies
- Enbridge Energy Partners
- Ecolab Inc.
- Fidelity National Financial Inc
- Dover Corporation
- Global Partners
- UGI Corporation
- Gannett Co., Inc.
- Harris
- Barnes & Noble Inc
- Newell Rubbermaid Inc.
- Smurfit-Stone Container
- Pitney Bowes Inc
- CC Media Holdings
- EMCOR Group, Inc.
- Dr Pepper Snapple Group
- Weyerhaeuser Company
- SunGard Data Systems
- CH2M Hill
- Pantry
- Domtar
- The Clorox Company
- Northeast Utilities
- Oshkosh
- Mattel Inc
- Energy Transfer Equity
- Advance Auto Parts Inc
- Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
- Corning Incorporated
- Mohawk Industries Inc
- PetSmart
- Reliance Steel & Aluminum
- Hershey Foods Corporation
- YRC Worldwide
- Dollar Tree
- Dana Holding
- Cameron International
- Nash Finch Company
- Pacific Life Insurance Co
- Terex Corporation
- Universal Health Services
- Amerigroup
- Sanmina-SCI Corporation
- Jarden
- Tutor Perini
- Mutual of Omaha
- Avis Budget Group
- Autoliv
- MasterCard
- Mylan
- Western Union
- Celanese
- Eastman Chemical Company
- Telephone & Data Systems
- Polo Ralph Lauren
- Auto-Owners Insurance
- Core-Mark Holding
- Western & Southern Financial Group
- Applied Materials, Inc
- Anixter International
- CenturyTel
- Atmos Energy
- Universal American
- Ryder System, Inc.
- SPX Corporation
- Foot Locker
- O'Reilly Automotive
- Harley-Davidson Inc
- Holly
- Owens Corning
- Micron Technology Inc
- EOG Resources
- Black & Decker Corp
- Big Lots Stores Inc
- Spectra Energy
- Starwood Hotels & Resorts
- United Stationers Inc.
- TravelCenters of America
- BlackRock
- Laboratory Corp. of America
- Health Management Associates
- NYSE Euronext
- St. Jude Medical
- Tenneco Automotive Inc.
- El Paso Corporation
- WESCO International, Inc.
- Consol Energy
- ArvinMeritor Inc
- NCR Corporation
- Unisys Corporation
- Lubrizol
- Alliant Techsystems
- Washington Post
- Las Vegas Sands
- Group 1 Automotive, Inc.
- Genzyme
- Allergan
- Broadcom
- Agilent Technologies Inc
- Rockwell Collins
- W.R. Berkley Corporation
- PepsiAmericas
- The Charles Schwab Corporation
- Dick's Sporting Goods
- FMC Technologies
- NII Holdings
- General Cable
- Graybar Electric Company, Inc.
- Biogen Idec
- AbitibiBowater
- Flowserve
- Airgas
- Conseco Inc
- Rockwell Automation
- Kindred Healthcare, Inc.
- American Financial Group
- Kelly Services
- Spectrum Group International
- RadioShack Corporation
- CA
- Con-way
- Erie Insurance
- Casey's General Stores
- Centene
- Sealed Air Corporation
- Frontier Oil
- SCANA Corporation
- Live Nation Entertainment
- Fiserv
- Host Hotels & Resorts
- H&R Block, Inc.
- Electronic Arts
- Franklin Resources
- Wisconsin Energy Corp
- Northern Trust Corp.
- MDU Resources Group
- CB Richard Ellis Group
- Blockbuster