NEW YORK: Exxon Mobil has unseated Wal-Mart Stores to top the 2009 Fortune 500 list after a year the magazine called the worst ever for the 500 largest U.S. publicly traded companies.
Fortune ranks companies by revenue. Exxon shrugged off plummeting oil prices to take the No. 1 spot with $442.85 billion in revenue in 2008.
Wal-Mart had held the top spot for six of the last seven years.
The retail giant slipped to No. 2, with $405.6 billion in revenue.
Fortune released the list on Sunday, calling 2008 the worst year for the 500 companies on its closely watched list.
It says earnings fell 85 percent – the biggest one-year decline in the list’s 55-year history. – AP
ps.: “the rich getting richer, the poor … ”
read more:
Fortune 500 – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
2009 Fortune 500: Exxon Mobil back on top
Exxon Mobil overtakes Wal-Mart to top Fortune 500
Latest business news from AP-Wire
