The July 24, 2006 issue of Fortune, featuring its Fortune 500 list

The Fortune 500 is an annual list compiled and published by Fortune magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States corporations by total revenue for their respective fiscal years. The list includes publicly held companies, along with privately held companies for which revenues are publicly available. The concept of the Fortune 500 was created by Edgar P. Smith, a Fortune editor, and the first list was published in 1955. The Fortune 500 is more commonly used than its subset Fortune 100 or superset Fortune 1000.

History

The Fortune 500, created by Edgar P. Smith, was first published in January 1955. The original top ten companies were General Motors, Jersey Standard, U.S. Steel, General Electric, Esmark, Anderson-Prichard Oil Corporation, Armour, Gulf Oil, Chrysler, Mobil, and DuPont.

Methodology

The original Fortune 500 was limited to companies whose revenues were derived from manufacturing, mining, and energy exploration. At the same time, Fortune published companion "Fortune 50" lists of the 50 largest commercial banks (ranked by assets), utilities (ranked by assets), life insurance companies (ranked by assets), retailers (ranked by gross revenues) and transportation companies (ranked by revenues). Fortune magazine changed its methodology in 1994 to include service companies. With the change came 291 new entrants to the famous list including three in the Top 10.

Influence

As of 2020, the Fortune 500 companies represent approximately two-thirds of the United States' gross domestic product with approximately $14.2 trillion in revenue, $1.2 trillion in profits, and $20.4 trillion in total market value. These revenue figures also account for approximately 18% of the gross world product. The companies collectively employ a total of 29.2 million people worldwide, or nearly 0.4% of the world's total population.

Overview

The following is the list of top 20 companies.

Fortune 500 list of 2024
RankCompanyStateIndustryRevenue in USD
1WalmartArkansasGeneral merchandisers$703.06 billion
2AmazonWashingtonInternet services and retailing$574.8 billion
3AppleCaliforniaComputers, office equipment$383.3 billion
4UnitedHealth GroupMinnesotaHealth care: insurance and managed care$371.6 billion
5Berkshire HathawayNebraskaInsurance: property and casualty (stock)$364.5 billion
6CVS HealthRhode IslandHealth care: pharmacy and other services$357.8 billion
7ExxonMobilTexasPetroleum refining$344.6 billion
8Alphabet Inc.CaliforniaInternet services and retailing$307.4 billion
9McKesson CorporationTexasWholesalers: health care$276.7 billion
10CencoraPennsylvaniaWholesalers: health care$262.2 billion
11CostcoWashingtonGeneral merchandisers$242.3 billion
12JPMorgan ChaseNew YorkCommercial banks$239.4 billion
13MicrosoftWashingtonComputer software$211.9 billion
14Cardinal HealthOhioWholesalers: health care$205.0 billion
15Chevron CorporationTexasPetroleum refining$200.9 billion
16CignaConnecticutHealth care: pharmacy and other services$195.3 billion
17Ford Motor CompanyMichiganMotor vehicles & parts$176.2 billion
18Bank of AmericaNorth CarolinaCommercial banks$171.9 billion
19General MotorsMichiganMotor vehicles & parts$171.8 billion
20Elevance HealthIndianaHealth care: insurance and managed care$171.3 billion

Breakdown by state

This is the list of the top 18 states with the most companies within the Fortune 500 as of 2024.

Breakdown by state
RankStateCompanies
1California57
2New York52
Texas52
4Illinois32
5Ohio27
6Virginia24
7Florida22
8Pennsylvania20
9Georgia18
10Minnesota17
11Massachusetts16
Michigan16
13Connecticut15
14New Jersey14
15North Carolina12
Washington12
17Arizona10
Tennessee10

Breakdown by metropolitan area

This is the list of the top 10 metropolitan statistical areas with the most companies within the Fortune 500 as of 2024.

Breakdown by metropolitan area
RankMetropolitan areaCompanies
1New York City46
2Chicago30
3Houston23
4Dallas20
San Jose, California20
Washington, D.C.20
7Atlanta16
8Minneapolis15
9Boston14
San Francisco14

See also

External links

  • Full list of Fortune 500 companies: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,