However, the data shows wealth Content written by staff is intended primarily for internal use. In 1955, Edgar P. Smith, the magazine’s assistant managing editor, thought readers would be interested in the information, and his bet turned out to be correct.
“Collectively, the Top 500 is a broad window into the U.S. economy and a reference point for everyone. It is cited by presidents and members of Congress, dissected by economists, and scrutinized by business leaders. wealth Contributing editor Carol Loomis writes about the list’s 40th anniversary.
1955, wealth For the first time, the magazine published a list of the 500 largest companies in the United States by revenue, albeit with a less catchy title: “Annual List of the 500 Largest Companies.”
Topping the list was General Motors with revenue of $9.8 billion, followed by Standard Oil of New Jersey (later renamed Exxon). Rounding out the top five were U.S. Steel, General Electric and meat-packing company Swift (which eventually merged with JBS USA).
The top 50 companies have a combined revenue of $69.4 billion, spread across manufacturing, defense, energy and other similar industries, as the original Fortune 500 is not a complete snapshot of the largest players in the U.S. economy. Instead, the original list focused on these more tangible industries, and it was not until 1994 that the methodology began to include all companies that submitted financial information to government agencies.
This does not mean that the magazine does not focus on other sectors of the economy. For example, banks have their own Fortune 50 lists.
Of the first Fortune 50 companies, 14 remain on the list, including General Motors, Goodyear, Lockheed Martin (then Lockheed Aircraft Company) and Boeing, which has recently been plagued by quality control controversies. company. Companies that topped the list in 1955 and showed staying power accounted for 28.5% of the total 49 companies that appeared in 70 publications. Although this number has remained stable since 2022, 60 companies in 2016 still managed to make the list in all years of publication.
Here is the original list of the top 50 companies in 1955:
https://app.datawrapper.de/archive/recently-edited?search=1955#/xvovo
