The Familiar Fortune 500
Old money still rules on the annual Fortune 500 list of the nation's biggest businesses. General Motors is at the top for the twelfth straight year; Ford dropped to fourth after being knocked out of second by Wal-Mart. Generating the most interest is the fact that a dot-com company is finally on the list, but only one. Internet powerhouse America Online made the cut but it was way down the list at number 337.
Other technology companies benefiting from the Internet boom climbed in the magazine's rankings, but there was little evidence of the high-flying Internet startups. That's because the list is based on 1999 revenue, not the companies' stock values.
MCI Worldcom Inc., one of the world's largest carriers of Internet traffic, hit No. 25, up from No. 80, in the list released Sunday and appearing the magazine's April 17 issue. Round Rock, Texas-based Dell Computer Co., the largest seller of computers in the country, went to 56 from 78.
Microsoft Corp., the company with the highest market value, rose to 84 from 109, and Cisco Systems Inc., which makes equipment for the Internet, advanced to 146 from 192.
AOL wasn't the only history-maker. Amgen Inc. became the first biotechnology company, landing at 463. And Hewlett-Packard Co., No. 13, was the highest-ranking Fortune 500 company with a female chief executive, Carleton Fiorina.
General Motors Corp. remained No. 1 for the 12th consecutive year, with revenues of $189 billion, but Ford Motor Co. dropped from second to fourth place, displaced by fast-growing retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc., previously in third.
GM's lead over Wal-Mart, which had $166 billion in revenue, may look sizable, but Wal-Mart has had annual growth in the double digits for more than a decade, while GM's revenue dropped in 1998.
In third place was oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp., following the merger of Exxon Corp., previously No. 4, and Mobil Corp., ranked No. 6 in 1998.
General Electric Co. remained fifth in revenue, but led in profits, stuffing its coffers with $10.7 billion. The grandfather of computer companies, International Business Machines Corp. remained in sixth place, followed by Citigroup Inc., also unchanged from last year.
AT&T Corp. climbed from 10th to eighth, pushing down Philip Morris Cos. Inc. to ninth. Boeing Co. fell from ninth to 10th.
Investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which went public last year, is the highest-ranked newcomer, at No. 54.
Total profits for the 500 corporations grew 28.7 percent, thanks to a roaring economy and a recovery from the Asian financial crisis, which pulled earnings down by 1.8 percent in 1998.
Revenues grew by 10.2 percent, also an improvement on 1998 growth of 4 percent.