Srotaswini Mohapatra
Pune, 4 July 2024
Fortune released the Fortune 500™ ranking for 2024, marking the 70th year of the iconic annual list of the largest corporations in the United States, ranked by revenue for the 2023 fiscal year. Walmart is No. 1 for the 12th year in a row, followed by Amazon, Apple, UnitedHealth Group, and Berkshire Hathaway.
FORTUNE ANNOUNCES 2024 FORTUNE 500.
In the first year of the list, 1955, Fortune 500 companies generated revenues of $1.5 trillion (inflation-adjusted), compared to $18.8 trillion now. The revenue threshold for making the 2024 Fortune 500 was $7.1 billion, down 2% from a year ago. Retailers, utilities, and insurance companies led all industries with the most Fortune 500 companies on the list.
In total, Fortune 500 companies are two-thirds of the U.S. GDP, totaling $18.8 trillion (up 4%) in revenues, net income amounting to $1.7 trillion (up 10%), and market capitalization reaching $43.0 trillion, (up 30%), while the companies on the list employed 31 million people worldwide. The complete dataset is available for purchase.
Separately from the independent creation of this year’s list, Fortune has been collaborating with Accenture on an innovative generative AI product built on the proprietary Fortune 500 and 1000 data as well as decades of Fortune’s trusted and award-winning business journalism. The product, Fortune Analytics, is currently in closed beta. Accenture and Fortune will celebrate this work and the 70th edition of the Fortune 500 at an invitation-only event this evening at the New York Stock Exchange.
THE TOP TEN COMPANIES ON THE 2024 FORTUNE 500 LIST ARE:
- Walmart
- Amazon
- Apple
- UnitedHealth Group
- Berkshire Hathaway
- CVS Health
- Exxon Mobil
- Alphabet
- McKesson
- Cencora
Each year the list welcomes new companies, and 14 companies are making their debut this year: BrightSpring Health Services, Concentrix, DoorDash, EchoStar, First Citizens BancShares, GE HealthCare Technologies, Interactive Brokers Group, Intuitive Surgical, Microchip Technology, Monster Beverage Corporation, New York Community Bancorp, Supermicro, Workday, and Xylem.
In her foreword to the June/July 2024 issue of Fortune, Editor in Chief Alyson Shontell noted the first Fortune 500 ranking was focused on manufacturing-heavy “industrials,” but 70 years later the list measures all industries, with retailers, banks, tech, and health care being the fastest-growing sectors. There are 49 companies that have been on the Fortune 500 for all of its 70 years, of which Shontell notes, “Staying big and successful for 70 years is no easy feat. The lifespan of most large companies is only a few decades.”
“Each year the Fortune 500 list tells the incredible story of American business, from tough times to fantastic heights, always based on facts and research, and surrounded by Fortune’s outstanding journalism and amazing stories about the business world,” said Anastasia Nyrkovskaya, Fortune’s Chief Executive Officer. We will continue to bring the Fortune 500 to our expanding audience, and in new and dynamic ways in the years ahead.”
Source: FORTUNE Media
