Exxon Bumps Wal-Mart Off Top Of Fortune 500

[Purveyor]

Source: Reuters

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Energy giant Exxon Mobil Corp beat discount retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc to regain the top of Fortune magazine's list of the 500 biggest publicly traded companies, based on revenue.

The widely watched Fortune 500 list, released Sunday, showed that the world's largest listed oil company regained the top spot, raking in $442.9 billion of revenue in 2008, despite the decline of energy prices late last year.

Exxon also was the most profitable, earning $45.2 billion last year.

That performance displaced Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart, which fell to runner-up after topping the list six of the past seven years. The retailer's revenue climbed 7 percent to $405.6 billion as recession-weary consumers tried to stretch their dollar.

In what was one of the worst years ever for stock markets, most companies saw revenue and earnings tumble. Overall, earnings of the Fortune 500 fell 85 percent to $99 billion last year. That, the magazine said, was the biggest one-year drop since it began compiling its list 55 years ago.

Energy companies, buoyed by soaring prices earlier in 2008, dominated the top ranks. Chevron Corp again came in third at $263.2 billion in revenue, up 25 percent, while ConocoPhillips climbed one notch to fourth with $230.8 billion of revenue.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE53I2HI20090419

[Deja Q]

1. Awww, poor walmart...

:nopity:

[underpants]

2. We could all see the end coming when you could get gas and $13 sweatsuits at the same place

'tis sad

[YOY]

3. Um, yay?

n/t

[TommyO]

4. Oh joy, evil 1 and evil 2 are battling each other

to see who's the most rapacious corporation out there.

[primavera]

12. Lol! That was pretty much my thought as well.

I was thinking the Fortune 500 list probably makes a decent "Most Wanted" list for the most egregious corporate crooks.

[Optical.Catalyst]

5. Both companies could use a little help shrinking the gap between CEO pay and worker pay

I would approve of a targeted application of Income Tax Laws to impose and an obscenely hight tax rate on CEOs to the same magnitude as the obscene difference in pay between the lowest paid worker in the company and the CEO.

[SkyDaddy7]

7. Removed by author

[stillcool]

6. Despite the decline of energy prices?

I seem to recall they got a nice chunk of change a while back.

[rpannier]

8. Why doesn't this news make me feel better?

Satan pushes Satan's Quisling off the most evil list

[Norrin Radd]

9. One good thing -- this is a convenient boycott list.

[tomm2thumbs]

10. me so sowweee (sniff)

[jmowreader]

11. This is a GOOD thing, strangely enough

The world is totally fucked when a company that makes absolutely nothing is the world's largest corporation.

ExxonMobil, Chevron and ConocoPhillips are evil as the day is long, but I'm fairly confident they don't schedule most of their employees to work 33 hours per week so they remain "part time" and therefore ineligible for benefits. They don't come into town demanding tax concessions then go to work trying to put all their competition (except the competition who rents space in their shopping centers, that is) out of business. I would be willing to bet good money an ExxonMobil new-hire orientation does NOT feature a class on applying for AFDC and Medicaid. And y'know, I have this funny feeling you will never see ExxonMobil roughnecks' wives taking their children to the emergency room to get their sore throats looked at because the emergency room is the only part of the hospital that's required to treat you without regard for your ability to pay.

[progressoid]

13. Golly, what an improvement!

:eyes:

[Phoonzang]

14. I'd pretend to be righteously indignant about this, but I just own too much Exxon stock.

Oh well... O8)