This 12 months marks the seventieth anniversary of the Fortune 500, an inventory of the biggest U.S corporations ranked by income. The primary version was revealed in 1955, with corporations like Common Motors, Jersey Normal, U.S. Metal, and Chrysler topping the listing.
At the moment, a brand new solid of characters are dominating. In 2023, Chevron secured the tenth spot on the listing, bumping off drugmaker Cencora, after the oil firm recorded $36.5 billion in earnings final 12 months.
Listed below are the highest 10 corporations from the Fortune 500 listing in 2023. Our 2024 listing will launch in June.
- Walmart
Walmart raked in over $611 billion in income final 12 months to safe the primary spot for 11 straight years. The corporate lately accomplished a $2.3 billion acquisition of TV maker Vizio, a transfer that consultants say will assist the corporate promote to prospects.
The corporate, headquartered in Arkansas, is run by CEO Doug McMillon and employs over 1.6 million folks.
The corporate additionally purchased entrepreneur Marc Lore’s startup, Jet.com, for $3.3 billion in 2016 and is operating a pilot of Lore’s newest firm, a restaurant idea known as Surprise, in considered one of their supercenters. Walmart plans to open two to 3 extra of Lore’s eating places of their retail chains this 12 months.
As considered one of a number of retailers, like Goal and Dwelling Depot, to report gross sales losses as a consequence of “shrink,” or stock loss that features theft, Walmart has lately posted limitations on self-checkout strains to alleviate shoplifting, which accounted for over $112 billion in trade losses in 2022, based on the Nationwide Retail Federation.
- Amazon
Amazon, with a yearly income of almost $514 billion, holds the quantity two spot on the listing for the fourth 12 months.
Run by CEO Andy Jassy, the ecommerce large additionally presents cloud providers and digital promoting together with streaming platforms like Fireplace TV and Amazon Prime Video. It employs about 1.5 million folks. The corporate has two headquarters in Seattle and Arlington.
Amazon has lately introduced an funding of greater than $10 billion to construct information facilities in Saudi Arabia to assist the nation diversify its oil-dependent economic system. Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Microsoft Corp have additionally invested. Amazon plans to spend $5.3 billion to create new infrastructure within the area to coach native builders in 2026.
- Exxon Mobil
Exxon Mobil introduced in a income of over $413 billion to take the third spot on the listing away from Apple this 12 months. The corporate moved by way of the rankings from it’s sixth place spot final 12 months, and will owe its success to a 12 months of record-breaking earnings for oil and gasoline corporations in 2022.
With CEO Darren Woods on the helm, the corporate made $55 billion in earnings final 12 months and employs over 62,000 folks globally. Headquarters are in Houston, Texas.
This 12 months, it’s been concerned in a whirlwind of acquisitions from fracking giants to lithium drilling operations, which the corporate is investing in to stay an trade chief as shoppers shift to electrical vehicles. On the finish of final 12 months, Exxon Mobil introduced plans to drill for lithium in southern Arkansas and expects to supply the fabric, which is crucial for electrical autos, by 2027.
- Apple
In 2023, Apple dropped to fourth place on this listing, nevertheless it nonetheless holds the title for many worthwhile firm on the Fortune 500—a title it’s held for eight years.
The corporate, with Apple Park as its headquarters in Cupertino, California, is run by CEO Tim Cook dinner and employs about 161,000 folks and generates income from key merchandise just like the iPhone, Mac, iPad, and software program platforms like iOS.
Apple recorded greater than $394 billion in revenues in 2023. It’s had a rocky 12 months with regulators–it was fined $2 billion by the European Union’s antitrust fee over a criticism introduced by Spotify stating that the corporate refuses to let streaming providers inform iOS customers of cheaper off-platform subscriptions, which in flip creates a barrier to competitors within the digital music market.
In an announcement, Apple has stated the Fee failed “to uncover any credible proof of shopper hurt,” and accused Spotify of “coordination with the European Fee.”
- UnitedHealth Group
With a income of over $324 billion, UnitedHealth Group is the highest-ranking healthcare firm on the Fortune 500 listing. It maintained the fifth spot on the rating for a 3rd straight 12 months.
The corporate, headquartered in Minnetonka, Minnesota, is run by CEO Andrew Witty and employs about 400,000 folks to develop well being expertise, monetary providers and pharmacy providers.
In February, the U.S Justice Division launched an antitrust investigation into the corporate as a part of the Biden administration’s antitrust efforts in opposition to among the largest American corporations, together with Apple, Amazon, and Google’s mum or dad firm, Alphabet.
- CVS Well being
CVS has introduced in over $322 billion in income this 12 months and fell from quantity 4 to quantity six on the listing final 12 months. The group’s CEO Karen Lynch tops Fortune’s Most Highly effective Girls in Enterprise listing for the third 12 months in a row. Her aspirations for the corporate, she instructed Fortune, are expansive.
With a headquarters in Rhode Island, the corporate employs about 300,000 folks and generates most of its income from healthcare advantages and pharmacy providers.
Within the subsequent few years, she stated, there will probably be “unprecedented change, extra change than most likely the final 50 years.” A few of these adjustments embody the corporate’s overhaul of its prescription drug pricing mannequin, which it introduced in December, and will assist prospects get monetary savings on medication. The corporate introduced it should roll out a brand new reimbursement mannequin that goals to make drug prices extra predictable and provide money low cost playing cards within the coming years.
- Berkshire Hathaway
CEO Warren Buffet’s multinational holding firm holds spot quantity seven on the listing for the second 12 months in a row with a reported income of over $302 billion {dollars}.
Berkshire Hathaway, headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, employs about 396,000 folks and owns companies in insurance coverage, rail transportation, vitality technology and distribution, and manufacturing and retail sectors. It’s additionally a big stakeholder in American corporations like American Categorical and Coca-Cola.
In February, the corporate’s inventory hit a quick report excessive with a valuation of $1 trillion.
- Alphabet
Alphabet, the mum or dad firm of Google and Microsoft Corp, generated over $282 billion in income final 12 months to safe its quantity eight rating on the listing. The 2 corporations have been on the forefront of AI growth, and recently, have been cracking all the way down to reasonable the software program, too.
Headquartered in Mountain View, California and run by CEO Sundar Pichai, the corporate employs about 182,500 folks and leverages its search, internet looking, promoting and cloud computing to generate cash. Its revenues from Google Cloud have additionally been rising quickly.
In March, Google introduced in a weblog publish that it plans to scale back spam, low-quality and unoriginal content material in search outcomes by 40%, after complaints surfaced that Google’s search engine outcomes are full of spam.
- McKesson
This medical provides firm earned almost $264 billion in income final 12 months to safe spot quantity 9 on the listing, the identical spot it held final 12 months. It’s one of many lesser identified corporations on the highest 10 of the Fortune 500 listing, however its CEO Brian Tyler spoke to Fortune on among the hallmarks of his four-year tenure.
Headquartered in Irving, Texas, employs over 80,000 folks and generates income by way of pharmaceutical distribution, wholesale medical provides, and pharmacy expertise providers.
- Chevron
With about $246 billion in income, Chevron closes out the listing at spot quantity 10. The corporate’s income climbed about 52% final 12 months as a consequence of rising oil costs, and has been investing in plenty of initiatives this 12 months, from inexperienced hydrogen vegetation to purchasing South American acreages for petroleum.
With a headquarters in San Ramos, California, and CEO Mike Wirth main the corporate, it employs about 45,600 folks and sells crude oil and pure gasoline.
In March, Chevron purchased a stake in acreage offshore Uruguay and joined a number of different trade corporations with curiosity in South America’s potential for oil discoveries. This month the group additionally shuttered its operations in biodiesel vegetation in Iowa and Wisconsin.
The group lately introduced bold plans to assemble a inexperienced hydrogen facility in southern California, which is scheduled to start operations in 2026, and can harness vitality from an current 29-megawatt photo voltaic vitality array to generate hydrogen. Chevron intends to make use of “non-potable” water, a non-drinkable by-product of its oilfield operations, for its inexperienced hydrogen facility.
