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Key takeout
The Fortune 500 represents the five hundred prime working US firms when it comes to income.
Walmart, Amazon and United Well being Group are the highest three Fortune 500 firms of 2025.
When the listing was first created in 1955, service firms like McDonald’s had been excluded, however now they account for many of the Fortune 500.
The Fortune 500 is the listing of the biggest 500 firms within the US ranked by complete income. Since 1955, Fortune Journal has printed its annual listing and is taken into account one of the vital well-known firms rankings. The Fortune 500 listing is on the market on-line and in printed magazines.
The businesses on the listing come from quite a lot of sectors, together with expertise, retail, healthcare, and finance. These firms are referred to as a number of the most influential on the planet, and the listing contains each personal and public firms.
Here is how firms create their lists, historical past behind their rankings and historical past of the highest 10 firms over the previous two years:
What are the {qualifications} for the Fortune 500 firm?
To qualify for the Fortune 500 listing, the corporate should be for industrial functions, publicly traded or personal, and should be a US-based entity with monetary statements filed with US authorities businesses. The corporate should have income to put it within the prime 500 US firms.
What’s a rating methodology?
To create a listing, the biggest firms within the US are ranked by their complete income for every fiscal yr. For instance, the 2025 listing makes use of the 2024 figures. The businesses that every firm is included should function inside the US and have submitted their monetary statements to at the least three-quarters of presidency businesses this fiscal yr. The income rely comes from firm submissions and contains income from consolidated subsidiaries and discontinued companies (excluding spinoff firms that make up the listing). Earnings are proven after taxes and earlier than the corporate’s most popular dividend.
The editor oversees the preparation of the listing, and accounting professionals sometimes evaluation and confirm the corporate’s revenue and loss assertion and stability sheet.
Prime 10 Fortune 500 Firms
Beneath is a listing of top-ranked firms for 2025 and 2024. Walmart has toped the listing for the previous thirteenth consecutive yr.
| Rank | Prime 10 Fortune 500 Firms 2025 | Prime 10 Fortune 500 Firms 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Walmart | Walmart |
| 2 | Amazon | Amazon |
| 3 | UnitedHealth Group | apple |
| 4 | apple | UnitedHealth Group |
| 5 | CVS Well being | Berkshire Hathaway |
| 6 | Berkshire Hathaway | CVS Well being |
| 7 | alphabet | exxonmobil |
| 8 | exxonmobil | alphabet |
| 9 | McKesson | McKesson |
| 10 | Senkora | Senkora |
Fortune 500 firm income and revenue
The inclusion of US firms within the Fortune 500 is predicated on income. Within the 500 difficulty, Vulcan elements are on the backside of the listing, however nonetheless introduced in a decent $7.4 billion in income.
Virtually how a lot income will every of the highest 10 Fortune 500 firms created in 2024? This was used to calculate the 2025 listing for Fortune.
- Walmart: $68.1 billion
- Amazon: $638 billion
- UnitedHealth Group: $400 billion
- apple: $391 billion
- CVS Well being: $373 billion
- Berkshire Hathaway: $371 billion
- alphabet: $35 billion
- exxonmobil: $35 billion
- McKesson: $309 billion
- Senkora: $29.4 billion
You will need to observe that Fortune 500 firms are positive to have a notable income to make cuts, however they need not make any earnings. For instance, the Walgreens Boots Alliance ranks twenty sixth on the 2025 Fortune 500 listing, however recorded a internet lack of $8.6 billion in fiscal yr 2024.
Nonetheless, the highest 500 US firms received a document $1.87 trillion in 2024 (although after adjusting for inflation, Fortune’s 2022 listing made probably the most of historical past). It was the primary time we reached that threshold as an excellent lump was born from Alphabet’s earnings, surpassing $100 billion.
Historical past of the Fortune 500 Checklist
The journal was based in 1929 with the launch of Nice God Presion, however the first Fortune 500 itemizing was not printed till 1955.
Initially, the listing solely included mining, manufacturing and power business firms. The highest three firms in 1955 had been Normal Motors (annual income of $9.8 billion), ExxonMobil ($5.6 billion) and US metal ($3.2 billion).
In 1995, Fortune introduced the inclusion of service firms corresponding to McDonald’s, Walmart, and AT&T. For the reason that change, service firms have primarily made up the vast majority of the listing.
Adjustments to Fortune 500 for 2025
Within the June/July difficulty, Fortune famous that in 2025 the corporate’s flagship listing was considerably secure. Roughly 95% of the 2024 listing remained.
The highest 10 firms remained the identical in 2025, however a number of the placement has modified. Newcomers embrace Ingram Micro Holding No. 95, ACE {hardware} No. 429. Consists of 437 Oscar Well being.
The place can I discover the Fortune 500 firm listing?
The Fortune 500 listing is often launched round late Might annually and could be discovered on-line or in printed June/July points. Non-collectors should purchase a single printed copy if they like a bodily model.
Conclusion
The Fortune 500 Checklist is a complete and influential information to the present state of the American economic system. It’s printed yearly by Fortune Journal, and generates complete income for the highest 500 US firms.
– Myiam Robinson-Puche I contributed to updating this text.