By Susan Kelly
July 11, 2007
Companies in the oil business occupy six of the top 10 spots in Fortune’s latest list of the biggest 500 businesses around the world.
Wal-Mart regained the top spot in the latest Global 500, pushing last year’s top company, ExxonMobil, to second place. But Wal-Mart is the only retailer in the top 10. In addition to ExxonMobil, the oil companies in the top 10 include Royal Dutch Shell in third place, BP in fourth place, Chevron in seventh place and ConocoPhillips and Total in ninth and tenth place, respectively.
The top 10 also includes three automakers: General Motors at No. 5, Toyota at No 6, and DaimlerChrysler at No. 8.
According to Fortune, 10 of the top 25 companies are financial services firms, led by ING at number 13.
The total revenues for Global 500 companies rose 10.4% from the previous year, and profits increased by 25.9%. There are 162 U.S. companies on the list and they account for more than a third of the total revenue. China added four companies to the list, the most of any country, bringing its total to 24.
http://www.financialweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070711/REG/70711007/1036
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