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Business Jun 06, 2023
| Photo courtesy of Levi Clancy/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)
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Fortune Magazine has released the 69th edition of the Fortune 500, a ranking of companies by total annual revenue. The corporations on the list had combined revenues of $18 trillion in fiscal year 2022 and account for two-thirds of the gross domestic product.
Walmart held the top spot for the 11th consecutive year, generating $5.7 trillion in cumulative revenue over that time. The retail giant was followed by Amazon.com, ExxonMobil, Apple, and UnitedHealth Group rounding out the top five.
McKesson, a pharmaceutical distributor based in Illinois, moved up one spot to 5th place on the list. Alphabet, the parent company of Google, came in at 8th place. Meanwhile, Berkshire Hathaway and Chevron suffered a drop in rankings, falling to the 9th and 10th spots, respectively.
The report also showed that 40 Fortune 500 companies are based in New York City, making it the top-ranked municipality. Houston and Atlanta followed with 22 and 15 companies, respectively.
In California, some companies experienced revenue growth well into the double-digits, including Chevron, Uber, Disney, Qualcomm, and TD Synnex. However, First American Financial reported a decrease in revenue by 17.5% to $7.6 billion.
For the first time in the list’s history, more than 10% of Fortune 500 companies have female CEOs, with seven of those women leading California companies that made the list. Reshma Kewalramani is at the helm of Vertex, Alyson Shontoll at Advanced Micro Devices, and Carol B. Tomé at UPS, which specializes in mail, package, and freight delivery and is based in Atlanta. Other women CEOs include PG&E’s Patricia K. Poppe, Ross Stores’ Barbara Rentler, Franklin Resources’ Jenny Johnson, Clorox’s Linda Rendle and Arista Networks’ Jayshree Ullal.
While some companies excelled in revenue growth and diversity, others faced challenges. ExxonMobil saw a drop in revenue, falling to third place on the list. However, the company plans to increase its investment in renewable energy and lower emissions, indicating a shift towards sustainability in the industry.
Overall, the Fortune 500 list serves as a reminder of the significant role corporations play in the economy, accounting for two-thirds of the gross domestic product. As the world continues to navigate the ongoing pandemic and global challenges, the performance and leadership of these companies remain vital to economic growth.
