With more than $123 billion in sales, Dallas-based AT&T ranked number 7 on the 2010 Fortune 500 list.
For American companies, nothing exudes prestige like a listing in Fortune magazine's annual Fortune 500. The magazine builds its Fortune 500 based on the amount of revenue each company reported earning during the latest fiscal year. The higher the amount of revenue earned, the higher the ranking on the Fortune 500.
Who Makes the Fortune 500
The Fortune 500 lists the top 500 largest, publicly traded companies owned and operated in the U.S. The list ranks companies based on total operating revenues for the year, including revenues from discontinued operations. The revenues calculated for commercial banks and savings institutions are interest and noninterest revenues, while those tallied for insurance companies include premium and annuity income, investment income and capital gains or losses.
Eligibility Criteria
To make it on the Fortune 500, a company must be publicly traded on the American Stock Exchange, the New York Stock Exchange or the Nasdaq National Market. It must maintain a daily trading volume of more than 100,000 shares during 25 consecutive trading days before it's added to the Fortune 500. The company must also have a minimum reported price of more than $5 per share and a minimum market capitalization of more than $100 million during that 25-day period. A company may be removed from the Fortune 500 during the year if it doesn't continue to meet the eligibility criteria.
Selection Process
A team of reporters, accountants and analysts go through the companies' annual financial statements, which all publicly traded companies must file each year with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Once the information is gathered and organized, Fortune compiles the list and publishes it in April. The magazine began publishing its Fortune 500 lists in 1955.
Influence
Aside from distinguishing America's top companies, the Fortune 500 serves as a snapshot of commercial progress and changes in the economy. The boom of interstate highway system during the 1950s, for example, helped place General Motors at number 1 in the first Fortune 500 list, which was published in 1955. Wal-Mart Stores took the top spot in 2010. Other top-ranking companies on the Fortune 500 have included the Ford Motor Company, Exxon Mobil, AT&T and General Electric.
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