Fortune 500

Fortune 500 is a comprehensive list of the top 500 companies in the United States in order of gross revenue. Published by Fortune Magazine, this annual list gives the reader an inside look into the success of the nation's top corporations. Companies are ranked in order based on how much money they made in the previous fiscal year. The top companies usually make upwards of 400 billion dollars in revenue, and gaining a spot on the list is certainly a prestigious feat to accomplish. http://www.uspages.com/fortune500.htm

Here are some interesting statistics involving the Fortune 500 list. In 2005, the combined profits of companies on this list were $610 billion. 490 of the comapanies had male CEO's. Katharine Graham was the first female CEO to ever run a Fortune 500 company, when the Washington Post made the list in 1972. New York was always the state that headquartered the most Fortune 500 companies until Texas passed them in 2005. The top 10 largest Fortune 500 employers give jobs to about 5 million people across the nation.http://www.uspages.com/fortune500.htm

• Wal-Mart Stores

• ExxonMobil

• Chevron

• General Motors

• Bank of America Corp.

• ConocoPhillips

• AT&T

• Ford Motor

• J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.

• Hewlett-Packard

The first Fortune 500 list was published in 1955. In its early years, Fortune 500 was a great insight into the growth seen by some major companies that was made possible by the vast number of highways and interstates being built across the United States. Corporations like McDonalds and Holiday Inn benefited greatly from this innovation, and Fortune was able to show the layman how these and other companies were growing along with the nation.http://www.uspages.com/fortune500.htm

Since then, Fortune 500 has simply been a window into the success of United States big business. It gives small businesses a goal to aim for, and some more established corporations some extra publicity and renown.