Forbes 500
Forbes 500 was an annual listing of the 500 largest companies in the United States . The list was last published by the US business magazine Forbes Magazine in March 2003 with the data for the fiscal year 2002 and was replaced in 2003 by the annual Forbes Global 2000 list .
The list was created to answer a question about the largest companies in the United States. The problem here is determining what makes a “big” company. Forbes Magazine has chosen a balanced mix of the five factors of sales figures, profit, company value, market value and number of employees for this list.
The Forbes Global 2000 list is drawn up based on the same criteria, but without taking the number of employees into account . The placements of the companies in the equally weighted categories are added together to form a rank.
Top entries from the last list from 2003
The last version of the Forbes 500 list published in 2003 included the figures for the 2002 financial year. Here are the top entries of this list:
| rank | Surname | Rank according to sales |
Rank after profit |
Rank according to balance sheet value |
Rank by market value |
Employees in 1,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | General Electric | 5 | 1 | 6th | 2 | 312.5 |
| 2 | Citigroup | 6th | 2 | 1 | 6th | 261.3 |
| 3 | ExxonMobil | 3 | 3 | 27 | 3 | 95.2 |
| 4th | American International Group | 9 | 14th | 7th | 9 | 81.0 |
| 5 | Bank of America | 21st | 7th | 5 | 13 | 138.3 |
| 6th | Wal-Mart stores | 1 | 8th | 38 | 4th | 1,341.5 |
| 7th | Fannie Mae | 16 | 16 | 2 | 28 | 4.5 |
| 8th | Verizon Communications | 10 | 17th | 25th | 16 | 239.9 |
| 9 | International Business Machines | 8th | 23 | 35 | 8th | 317.9 |
| 10 | Altria Group | 12 | 4th | 43 | 19th | 170.5 |
| 11 | Berkshire Hathaway | 25th | 19th | 24 | 14th | 128.3 |
| 12 | Wells Fargo | 46 | 13 | 12 | 18th | 123.6 |
| 13 | SBC Communications | 24 | 9 | 37 | 23 | 184.7 |
| 14th | Freddie Mac | 31 | 12 | 4th | 48 | 3.8 |
| 15th | Microsoft | 43 | 5 | 52 | 1 | 50.5 |
| 16 | Merck & Co. | 17th | 10 | 72 | 10 | 78.1 |
| 17th | JPMorgan Chase & Co. | 23 | 53 | 3 | 40 | 95.1 |
| 18th | Morgan Stanley | 38 | 31 | 8th | 44 | 58.5 |
| 19th | General Motors | 2 | 50 | 10 | 61 | 355.5 |
| 20th | Pfizer | 40 | 6th | 76 | 5 | 90.0 |
| 21st | Procter & Gamble | 26th | 15th | 78 | 12 | 102.0 |
| 22nd | Johnson & Johnson | 33 | 11 | 82 | 7th | 105.1 |
| 23 | Wachovia | 69 | 23 | 13 | 39 | 82.4 |
| 24 | Merrill Lynch | 47 | 36 | 9 | 57 | 54.0 |
| 25th | ChevronTexaco | 7th | 83 | 48 | 21st | 54.4 |
| 26th | Bank One | 76 | 27 | 17th | 43 | 73.6 |
| 27 | American Express | 66 | 35 | 26th | 42 | 79.9 |
| 28 | Intel | 53 | 29 | 77 | 11 | 81.1 |
| 29 | Viacom | 65 | 40 | 41 | 27 | 91.4 |
| 30th | Goldman Sachs | 72 | 42 | 11 | 54 | 21.2 |
| 31 | Washington Mutual | 90 | 21st | 18th | 52 | 46.0 |
| 32 | The Home Depot | 13 | 22nd | 120 | 34 | 221.1 |
| 33 | Boeing | 15th | 38 | 65 | 79 | 177.0 |
| 33 | MetLife | 36 | 56 | 16 | 89 | 46.6 |
| 35 | US Bancorp | 111 | 25th | 23 | 46 | 51.7 |
| 36 | Allstate | 45 | 62 | 29 | 74 | 53.3 |
| 37 | BellSouth | 74 | 33 | 69 | 47 | 82.4 |
| 38 | Cisco Systems | 89 | 30th | 95 | 15th | 35.5 |
| 39 | United Parcel Service | 42 | 28 | 134 | 29 | 365.5 |
| 40 | DuPont | 68 | 48 | 101 | 49 | 79.0 |
| 41 | Target | 22nd | 54 | 123 | 68 | 280.0 |
| 41 | Walt Disney | 59 | 89 | 66 | 53 | 113.0 |
| 43 | PepsiCo | 61 | 26th | 158 | 24 | 143.0 |
| 44 | Coke | 86 | 20th | 148 | 17th | 47.0 |
| 44 | United Technologies | 48 | 39 | 122 | 62 | 153.6 |
| 46 | FleetBoston Financial | 114 | 80 | 20th | 71 | 53.1 |
| 47 | AT&T | 32 | 98 | 59 | 120 | 74.4 |
| 48 | Abbott Laboratories | 95 | 32 | 152 | 31 | 71.6 |
| 49 | Wyeth | 121 | 18th | 135 | 38 | 52.5 |
| 50 | Dell computers | 35 | 41 | 217 | 22nd | 36.9 |