Making a list may not always indicate that you have many tasks to complete. Making the list, on the other hand, may indicate that you have received recognition for a significant accomplishment. It may be an Oscar nomination for an actor, hitting The New York Times best-seller list for a writer, or being included in the Fortune 500 for a corporation. You do actually have a very important to-do list if you hope to see your business recognized in that way.
What is a Fortune 500 Company?
The list’s most apparent meaning is rather straightforward and clear. Every year, the esteemed business publication Fortune ranks American businesses according to their sales revenue recorded during the prior fiscal year. The Fortune 500 is a list of the 500 best firms according to that standard, and the next 500 are included in a long list called the Fortune 1000. Even though entering the Fortune 1000 is a big accomplishment in itself and a step toward becoming a Fortune 500 business, it doesn’t grant the same kind of bragging rights as being on the shorter list.
List History
The first-ever Fortune 500 list was released in 1955, a time when the American economy was strongly based on the construction of goods. At the time, it made it reasonable to limit the list to businesses engaged in manufacturing, mining, and energy. However, even then, several sizable businesses were excluded due to that limitation. The service sector gained importance during the following several decades, and by omitting it from the Fortune 500 qualifications, the list lost its usefulness as a representation of the American economy. The criteria for the list was altered in 1994 to include the service sector, just in time for rising giants like Walmart to claim their place in the spotlight. In retrospect, such a choice seems crucial since technology has eroded the distinctions between conventional industries. For instance, there are still devices with Apple and IBM trademarks, but software and services are now the foundation of both businesses.
The journal, which was once published monthly, now publishes 16 issues a year in addition to having a significant online presence. It is easily accessible online, all you need is a reliable connection like the one provided by HughesNet to find the list.
Eligibility
In contrast to businesses operating in America, Fortune magazine wanted its list to rate American corporations, and the official criteria reflect that. According to the Fortune 500 definition, being an American firm signifies a few different things. An obvious place to start is by incorporating and conducting business in the United States. The businesses can be public, private, or even cooperatives; mutual insurance firms and credit unions would match this definition; but, in order to be eligible, they must submit financial accounts to a government body. Companies that don’t submit reports to the government are also excluded, as are US businesses that merge with another organization—domestic or foreign—for the purpose of reporting.
The yearly income
There are guidelines for the revenue reported by the firms under review, which makes up the other half of the equation. The order of the businesses is first determined by the revenues they submitted to the relevant government authorities for their most recent fiscal year. The comparison isn’t exactly apples to apples because not all businesses use the same fiscal year, but it’s very close. When firms on the list have subsidiaries, those subsidiaries’ revenues are added to the parent company’s earnings. Each company’s after-tax profits are likewise included on the list, although they have no bearing on the rankings. Even among the organizations with the highest total revenue on the list, it is very feasible to post a yearly loss. One of the perks of being a Fortune 500 firm is having the money to go through tough times.
Other types of lists
Of course, the Fortune 500 isn’t the only list of its kind. Other publications and businesses involved in the finance industry have their own. Fortune itself produces a worldwide edition of its list, contrasting American businesses with those from other countries.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and Standard &Poor’s 500 are the two other most significant rankings in the US. Both serve as significant yardsticks for the overall health of the American economy, but because they do not include private corporations and only include publicly listed ones, they are not as inclusive as the Fortune 500. The major, publicly listed firms in the S&P index were chosen with care to provide an accurate picture of the economy as a whole.
They are weighed based on their total market capitalization, which is calculated by multiplying the stock price by the number of outstanding shares. Even fewer stocks make up the Dow, which has just 30 stocks and weights them according to their price. By emphasizing revenues rather than stock price or market value, you may argue that the Fortune 500 is a more accurate gauge of the state of the economy.
Conclusion
It takes more than just reaching a certain revenue target if you’ve set the objective of getting your business listed on the Fortune 500. There is no cutoff for the Fortune 500 and no easy dollar-and-cents benchmark to demonstrate success. The firms on the list are there because they outperform everyone else, and each year, the actual sales threshold is different.
