The giant retail company Wal-Mart has topped the chart on the Fortune 500 list for the second year in a row. Despite the slow economy, or perhaps because of it, Wal-Mart continued to attract shoppers with it’s low-price strategy. Though it has slowed its expansion recently, it still reigns as the largest company in the United States by revenues.
Exxon Mobil was second and oil group Chevron third on the list. The other top ten companies in order were Conoco Phillips, General Electric, Ford Motor, Citi Group, Bank of America, and AT&T.
While Wal-Mart is the biggest, Exxon Mobil stood as the most profitable company for the fifth year on the Fortune list, good news for its shareholders. GE came in as the second most profitable corporation on the list.
The biggest mover on the list was the new ranking of AT&T. The company was ranked 27 on the list last year, but jumped to the 10th spot this year.Size isn’t always a plus however. As Directorship found, sometimes size can make companies vulnerable to concerted attacks by activists, regulators, and the media. (See “The Perils of Being Number One.”)