Internet firms climb Fortune 500 list
Tech and Internet companies have had a great year, with many climbing the ranks of the 2014 Fortune 500 list, led by Apple, which remains the largest tech firm in the US by revenue.
Fortune Magazine has published its annual Fortune 500 list, revealing that Wal-Mart has remained in the top position, raking in over $476 billion in revenue in 2013.
Fortune 500 companies are ranked by total revenues for their respective fiscal years, and includes companies that are incorporated in the US and operate in the US and file financial statements with a government agency.
The wholesale retail giant – which owns a significant stake in South Africa’s Massmart – led the pack of familiar names in the 2014 ranking, which remained largely unchanged amongst the top 10.
Exxon Mobil ranked second with $407 billion in revenue (down from $449 billion in 2013), while oil company, Chevron, maintained third place with $220.36 billion in revenue (also down from $233.9 billion in 2013).
Warren Buffett’s investment company, Berkshire Hathaway, boosted revenue to $182.15 billion, to climb into 4th place.
With revenues reaching $170.9 billion in 2013, Apple managed to climb one spot in the ranking to 5th. Apple is the biggest tech Fortune 500 company, and the only tech-focused company in the top 10. Apple was ranked in 17th position in 2011.
Tech in the Fortune 500
Tech and telecoms firms are well-represented amongst the US’s largest companies.
AT&T retained its position from 2013 (11th) cementing its spot as the largest telecom operator in the US by revenue. Verizon (16th), and Comcast (44th) follow.
It was a big year for Internet companies, which saw a massive climb on the list. Online retail giant, Amazon, climbed to 35th place (from 49th in 2013) with total revenues rising to $74.45 billion.
Google climbed from 55th to 46th on the list, while Facebook – which debuted at 482nd on the list in 2013 – moved up 141 places to 341st on the list, with revenues totaling $7.87 billion.
Yahoo did not celebrate the same success, however, as the company slipped off of the Fortune 500 to 522nd spot, overall.
IBM slipped out of the top 20 to 23rd, followed by other tech and software companies Microsoft (34th), Intel (53rd), Cisco (55th), Oracle (82nd) and Qualcomm (120th).
Fortune 500 top 20
| 2014 | 2013 | Company | Revenue ($bn) |
| 1 | 1 | Wal-Mart Stores | 476.29 |
| 2 | 2 | Exxon Mobil | 407.67 |
| 3 | 3 | Chevron | 220.36 |
| 4 | 5 | Berkshire Hathaway | 182.15 |
| 5 | 6 | Apple | 170.91 |
| 6 | 4 | Phillips 66 | 161.18 |
| 7 | 7 | General Motors | 155.43 |
| 8 | 10 | Ford Motor | 146.92 |
| 9 | 8 | General Electric | 146.23 |
| 10 | 9 | Valero Energy | 137.76 |
| 11 | 11 | AT&T | 128.75 |
| 12 | 13 | CVS Caremark | 126.76 |
| 13 | 12 | Fannie Mae | 125.70 |
| 14 | 17 | UnitedHealth Group | 122.49 |
| 15 | 14 | McKesson | 122.45 |
| 16 | 16 | Verizon Communications | 120.55 |
| 17 | 15 | Hewlett-Packard | 112.30 |
| 18 | 18 | J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. | 106.28 |
| 19 | 22 | Costco Wholesale | 105.16 |
| 20 | 24 | Express Scripts Holding | 104.62 |
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