The world’s largest companies

Bank of America…greatest company Ever.

But the ENTRY LEVEL salary ‘SUCKS’.

“…Cargill is not on the list? Is that because they are a privately held company?

Posted By Mike, Tulare ca. : July 8, 2009 10:49 am
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Good call, Mike. Cargill is the largest privately held company in the U.S.; they’re huge. But private is private – no numbers available or verifiable.

Shell: “Should it be No. 1?”

Posted By Patsuris : July 7, 2009 9:26 am
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Uh … should 10 still be larger than 8? These rankings are based only on annual revenue. There isn’t any “should” involved.

Craig, Farnborough, UK
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Your opinion would hold more weight if they still taught English in England.

Dear lim do hyoung,

Thank you for pointing out the error — it has been fixed.

Sincerely,

CNNMoney Editors

Most of you guys in the US need a touch of perspective. In the UK we are paying between £1 and £1.10 per litre for gas. That is between $6.25 and $6.80 per US gallon. This is a common price across Europe. Equally the average wage is comparable to the US so our gas costs are a far greater portion of our pay packet.
It is also worth noting that most of the oil companies profits and worth comes not from selling gas but from extracting the oil. Price of a barrel goes up – there net worth goes up, even if gas prices go down.
Don’t forget oil is used for everything from gas to plastics to pharmaceuticals to generating electricity and shipping all your consumer goods from Japan and Korea. Before you whinge about gas prices you need to understand more about the industry you are commenting on.

Two Dutchies in the top 10, wow!

Re PEMEX (#31, $119,235M) and the Saudi Oil company, Saudi Aramco. BOTH are state owned oil companies!
http://www.answers.com/topic/pemex

http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Saudi-Arabian-Oil-Company-Company-History.html

I point out that your news(FORTUNES’s global 500) is not accurate. for exampie, Korean comany LG site adress is Seoul in Korea(In your site map, LG is located in GUAM)
Please, you correct your inaccuracy

For the comment below that said EPS should determine biggest company. I would just like to say that I have a small business that is incorporated with 2 shareholders. Our EPS is $120,000 per share! Aye yeah!

So Saudi Aramco not on the list, but the U.S. Posal Service, Pemex and PDVSA are? There must be another reason.

It’s no wonder that the top companys are energy ones, the worlds economies need energy to function. The auto was a great invention, but now has become a burden to the consumer, only because of the “cost” to own and operate, and yes they do pollute the air, much more than tabacco smoke I should add. I have always found it interesting how people justify what is a reasonable price to pay and one that is not. Some products are questioned and others are not. Why is that. I think the fundamental question here is what is a “reasonable” profit and what is not. What percentage is acceptable. I would like to see a chart showing these numbers and why they are so different.

@Ralf, Tilburg: you should do your homework. This is how the € 1.55 was build up in the Netherlands in 2008:
Various Taxes: 53%
VAT: 16%
Production costs: 21%
Distribution costs: 5%
Gross profit margin gasstation: 4%
Gross profit margin oilcompany: 1%
If you want to complain about fuel prizes, go to your government.

Gazprom and all Moscow-based companies are located in Moscow, Russia – not Arkansas as the map mistakenly shows.

I’m tired of all you whiners.

The oil companies have figured out how to suck 4.6 BILLION gallons of oil every day from 15,000 feet below the surface, put it in the largest ships ever to sail the sea, refine it, process it, and deliver it to your neighborhood gas station, so any time you wish you can bop on down and fill up your car without getting your hands dirty.

They deserve every penny they earn. If you can do better, start your own oil company.

Way to many oil companies on the top of the list. That is why we are being robbed every time we go to the gas pump. Oil is a necessity that is controlled by far too few companies. They are able to manipulate the price at will. Price not high enough? Better take that refinery offline for some work, and up goes the price of gas.

Could you imagine what food prices would look like if there were only 10 main food producers in the world? And they controlled the growing, harvesting, processing, distribution and sales of the food products?

Fascinating that everyone wants to hang the oil companies. Of the top 5, all had profits margins of less than 10.2% (profits compared to revenue). Yet Microsoft makes 29% and nobody is calling foul on them. I guess it’s much more politically correct to abuse the “Big Oil”

You want people to click “Next” 500 times to read about all the companies ? Hasn’t anyone at Fortune learnt web UI design ?

140! The decline of the US is greatly exaggerated.
China, the next superpower?
The global demographic crisis will leave the US in even better shape in the future.
The EU is not a country. Include Mexico and Canada in the US count.

OK – how come all of the oil companies are in top 20?!?!?!? and I’m still payiin $ 2.55 a gallon?

Posted By Agnes, Norton, MA : July 9, 2009 8:07 am

Agnes – try $6.15 a gallon and over $4 of this being tax!! Thats what us Brits have to put up with.

regarding global ranking, I checked 2008 annual report. Shell revenue: 458,361 million, Exxon:459,579 million -> Exxon has more revenue.. your data is different.. please explain~ thanks

Wow, with those huge profits for the top 2 can someone explain why gas is as expensive as it is?

The Russian company Gazprom is shown in the US on Google Maps. I think that is a mistake.

I am amazed how much ignorance there is here about the source of oil companies’ profits. The reason these companies are so big has nothing to do with how high their prices are. It has to do with the fact that we all buy enormous quantities of their main product, and then burn it up within minutes of buying it, and then go out and buy more.

Checking out the operating margins of oil comanies on this list, they are around 16%, i.e. out of every $ or Euro spent, 16 cents is profit – healthy, no doubt, but this is before income tax and interest is paid, so hardly extortionate.

If you want to know why petrol/gas is so expensive, check out how much tax your local government puts on a litre – here in the UK it is 64p – with a typical price at the pump of around £1, this dwarfs any profit the oil company is making.

Also, consider for moment what needs to be done to get that litre of petrol to your car, the payments to governments for drilling rights, the building of the rigs, the drilling, the shipping or piping of the crude oil, the refining, the transportation via tanker to the pump, and the wages of everybody involved at each stage.

Despite all this, and including the profit for the company’s shareholders, and the fuel tax to the government, I reckon it still only costs me about 12p a mile – really not that bad.

If you want to know which industry is really ‘taking us for a ride’, check out the margins on the Software companies in the Global 500 – Microsoft and Oracle each have operating margins of 35%!

If we talk about Continents, there are 187 companies from Europe, 165 from the Americas and 139 from Asia (including Israel, Saudi Arabia and Turkey in Asia)

Curious that there is not a single company from the whole Africa.

Spain has 12 companies and Italy just 10. It shows how the Spanish economy is more dynamic than the Italian…

Dino from Atlanta, I just want to point out that BP and Shell are consistently among the top ten largest manufacturers of photovoltaic equipment in the world, and that the solar industry is growing by leaps and bounds. When we invest in solar, whether through PV or concentrating solar power (CSP), we just have to make the capital investment in plant construction and maintenance; the fuel’s free. When we’re tied to oil, we have to pay the capital cost and the continuous, volatile price for a vulnerable, destructive fuel supply. Why not switch over, when jobs can be preserved?

As to American jobs, BP, First Solar, Evergreen Solar and United Solar Ovonics have production facilities in the US. Further efforts to expand the domestic solar industry can only increase the number of jobs for Americans. One of my buddies got laid off last year from his job as an electrician for Maersk, but he just got hired to install home-scale solar and wind power systems. He’s making more money, he’s always busy, and he feels good about his job. What’s wrong with that?

Anonymous in Tampa, while I agree with you almost entirely, I see one hole in your logic. As a Houston resident, if I want to reduce my personal and systemic oil consumption, my options are extremely limited. I grow as much of my food as I can at the moment and buy from the few local farmers for most of the rest. I try to use local merchants for my personal purchases, and drive the most fuel-efficient car that I can afford right now. However, the products available to buy are almost all made abroad, there are not enough local food producers, and there is almost no public transportation in this city. Basically, I’m saying that average people can do a lot, but government needs to fund proper development to help reduce the stranglehold of Big Oil.

My $0.02.

With 163 companies, it turns out the European Union holds the largest percentage (33% of the total) of the big 500 firms.

Dear L. Smith:

The company to which you refer, Royal Dutch Shell, saw its profits decrease by 16% year over year, but it still earned $26 billion dollars, and had the highest annual revenues of any company we surveyed – $458 billion. That’s why it is ranked number one on our list of the World’s Largest Companies.

Sincerely,

The Editors

Dear Gert:

We’ve corrected that error and appreciate you pointing it out. Thank you!

Sincerely,

The Editors

For the people that ask why Saudi Amraco is not in the list: this company is indeed the biggest oil company in the world, but it is OWNED BY THE STATE OF SAUDI ARABIA and therefore not in the list.

As much as SEVEN companies in the top 10 are oil companies. Why is there no action taken against the extremely high prices for petroleum? 1,55 euro for a litre of gas here in the Netherlands!!

I’m always frustrated by the constant outcry against oil and gas companies in response polls like this, and agree that it’s the direct result of our public’s bad habit of vocalizing opinions and passing judgement on things they don’t fully understand. Kudos to the two posts from Gus in Colorado. First you have to know what these numbers really mean, which the majority of the public doesn’t (the business students I teach in my college math courses usually don’t, so I’m not willing to expect better of the average American). If you do know what these numbers mean and still have the same opinion, you need to follow your words with action. I’d venture a guess that the majority of negative feedback here comes from armchair critics who don’t realize just how much their everyday actions are contributing to the stranglehold they accuse Big Oil of having on our economy. I’ll admit, with profits like that, they can afford an arsenal of lobbyists to bend the government to their will…but who put them in the position to do that in the first place? Americans (and an increasing number of cultures worldwide) demand convenience over personal sacrifice without realizing their personal cost is then shifted to the economy and the public. If that wasn’t the case, we wouldn’t have so many supermarkets, Wal-marts, fast food chains, and novelty items dedicated to making life easier (has anyone seen the “organic” aerosol pancake batter yet?). Anyone notice that the food industry and big box retailers make up a good chunk of these lists as well? It’s not because we all need to eat…we all need to eat easy in big recliners with flat-screen TVs. As long as that demand is there, those companies are going to need Big Oil to keep their productivity and expansion going. Switching to compact fluorescent bulbs, buying a hybrid, and turning the thermostat up a couple degrees will help, but the public needs to realize their green efforts have to extend beyond the home and automotive energy regimes before we really start to see these companies shift tactics.

Bottom line…Big Oil wouldn’t be Big Oil if we didn’t support them, and claiming ignorance to these facts or crying injustice at the results won’t change anything. Taking action by making lifestyle changes and going back to the basics will.

Google Maps shows Toyota in the Netherlands, tiny mistake

The top six companies making the most profit in the world are oil and natural gas companies.


Clearly we’re being taken for a ride…

Lets go back to horses. Watch these companies dive.

“Profit in $ is almost meaningless…why not show profit MARGIN? Eg, as % of gross or net revenue?” from Rick in MD ———–> You are an idiot

I would like the president to answer a question for us all… How do you make the switch from a fossil fuel dependent economy when the most profitable companies left standing today are energy companies? Making the switch is indeed important and needs priority, but it seems the American people have put the recession as a greater priority. I believe there was a GOP-based initiative to drill here and drill now during the election campaign, but since our Democratic brethren don’t believe in that, perhaps we’ll sink the economy further by driving up the cost to switch our energy portfolio over now during the worst recession of our time. Don’t worry though, all the new and higher taxes that are surely coming to the battered middle class will pay for it all.

I guess I don’t understand this rating system: How can a company be at -16.1 in profits and be considered #1 in profitability?

of course the oil barrens are on the list… these sloppy pukes are the reason for the impending economic collapse. Every last one of their ceo’s and government cohorts should be fined the amount of the stimulous.

I am not sure if these revenue numbers are correct!!

Its so easy to point the finger at oil corps and whine at how much they’re making.

If there’s no demand, there won’t be the supply.

If you don’t want oil corps to “exploit” you, then walk instead of drive; open the windows instead of turning on your A/Cs;

i.e. consume less – and stop looking for scapegoats.

60% of the top ten most profitable companies are energy companies. That should tell you something about which companies are ripping off consumers because they can.

Profit in $ is almost meaningless…why not show profit MARGIN? Eg, as % of gross or net revenue?

The idea of cutting $5 billion by layoffs and spending cut backs comes from what I call old school CEO’s. This only puts people on edge and creates disloyalty. Your GREATEST asset is your people. Wake up! Also, in slower times I would have my best people searching out new markets and ideas. Why cut back? Try and expand! Remember, he who dares, wins! Layoff’s should be the very LAST item on a CEO’s list. Asking folks to help the company by working and extra couple unpaid hours of taking a small pay cut should be ahead of layoffs. I have lived by this rule my whole life and it has NEVER failed me. Indeed, many of my people would do anything I asked of them. Because they knew I shared the pain and the profits. Years ago, I decided big companies where not for me and I have never regretted my decision.

Where is the “company” that is actually by far the largest…Saudi Aramco? They probably make more than the stockholder owned “giants,” Shell, ExxonMobil, BP, Chevron, Total and Conoco Phillips added together.

Maybe their low return is due to the fact that they pay their upper management too much in salaries and bonus??

It’s clear to see which companies are legitimately successful on that list, versus those who have schemed and bought their way up. Oil companies have owned us for too long. Their days are numbered.

In a country like ours, whose government officials are continually supported by those special interest groups who in turn receive lucrative favors from them–well sheep is all we can ever be, including you Gus, you’re just a clueless, puppet neocon.

Does this not give the country’s economic woes a palpable cause? While the rest of the economy suffers, oil companies consistantly report record profits. For this reason, it is no surprise that petro based corporations occupy the top six spots of the Fortune 500, but why are people, officials and civilians alike, not looking at this more closely? There is a preponderance of evidence that further shows a recession always follows a time of high oil prices. Another disturbing trend is that every time the market begins to rise, gas prices concomitantly. Subsequently, the market tanks again. If this is not evidence for alternative fuels, I don’t know what is.

I guess this info helps us understand why our Gas prices are so LOW!!!!

Look at return on revenue. It’s the real list of companies that charge premium prices in order to profit from your wallet.

It is difficult to believe in this list without Saudi Aramco which is, according to wikipedia, the largest oil corporation in the world.

Almost EACH and EVERY year since the Iraq war started, Exxon doubled it’s profits… all while doubling and tripling gasoline prices and being defended by the politicians… disgusting.

These are the same sheep that are cheering the Government on while they tear our Economy out by the roots. Wake up people! Big business is not perfect but it produces real goods and creates real sustainable jobs.

Where is the stock and dividend apprecition? Stop touting stocks and comapnies.

Extremely misleading! The only meaningful measurement is an earnings per share ranking. This normalizes all companies to a level criteria. For non financial types EPS is essentially the net profit devided by the number of shares outstanding. Exxon had the highest profits by wouldn’t have even made the list of the most 100 profitable companies on a share by share basis. Pure revenue and pure profit rankings are totally misleading!!

I notice that the most profitable oil companies are not the biggest employers. This explains why globally there was no “green” effort. A green effort would mean more jobs for common people but the profit margin would be smaller.

Petroleum is a commodity, it’s shouldn’t have 10-20% net margins. Look at the $100M’s that are pulled out of the world economy to pay shareholders.

6 of the top ten are all oil/gas companies. Something is wrong… Oil prices are too too too high.

No wonder why we’re screwed. Look at this list. Corporate America has no soul and little if any value to the world other than pollution and cancer. (Oil, cigarettes and Fast Food)

Wow, oil companies dominate the top spots and we can’t develop an affordable electric car. What a @#$!%&@ surprise.

“People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are.
I don’t believe in circumstances.
The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can’t find them, make them.”
George Bernard Shaw

“The trouble with this country is that there are too many people going about saying, “The trouble with this country is….”
Sinclair Lewis

I think the two quotes speak for themselves. I always hear lots of whiners but rarely a doer. The general public (yes you) will blame oil companies for their bad lot in life, always failing to look at themselves and take accountability for their circumstances.

“The best years of your life are the ones in which you decide your problems are your own. You do not blame them on your mother, the ecology, or the president. You realize that you control your own destiny.”

Albert Ellis

Please show ranking as per cash profits

I’m not surprised that petroleum companies are in top in this list. What bothers me is that in spite of that the US government feels that they need to be subsidized. The same companies that scream about socialism when we talk about small companies and welfare hold their hand open behind their back all year long. I guess laissez-faire only applies to other people.

Does this list reflect NET profit? If not, it is very misleading.

I’ll try to make this a little more clear with a simplistic example, since there are so many people on here that have no clue what these numbers really mean.
Company 1 has annual operating expenses of $100. It’s profit is $30.
Company 2 has annual operating expenses of $1000. It turns a profit of $200.

In this case, if I follow the logic of most commenters here, I should be IRATE that Company 2 is making such a HUGE PROFIT!!! Look again, people! What this really means…
Company 1 has revenue of $130, and a profit margin of 23%.
Company 2 has revenue of $1200, and a profit margin of 17%.
In other words, Company 1 is really the one “robbing” you, but you don’t see that, because you’re blinded by the misleading numbers published by the media.

You do not have all of the companies listed, or do you not list companies that actually do the right thing, and have no debt load? Have you ever checked out the company MonaVie? located in Utah

The sheep that only look at the “profits” tab are buying in to just what the liberals want you to believe… Sure, the gas companies have high profits, but their return on revenues, which is a better indicator of who is “robbing” the public shows that not one of the major oil/gas companies is in the top 50.
When you demonize the oil and gas companies for making a profit, while accepting higher percentage profits from soft drink, drug, software and financial companies, you are then just a puppet for the media…

Why are the oil companies so profitable? They should be lowering the price of gas instead.

Please set up the list according to the net profit

Who is surprised that gas companies are making a profit…

So… whoever was surprised that GM was 18…they’re ranked by revenue, not profit. If you cared to read the chart, GM lost 30 bil last year.

And AT&T claims they cant afford to keep their employess health care. Yeah right! Greedy SOB’s!

Your level of success in life is equaled to the level by which you are willing to fail.

Almost half of these companies are involved in extraction of natural resources.

Oil, Oil and Oil.. and we wonder why we cant get alternative power sources…

I wish my shares of some of these firms reflected the profits they are making, especially in the past year…

Not surprising to see the top positions filled by fuel companies. They continue to gouge the consumers. Electric cars will come… and they shall fall one day.

It would be encouraging to see some of these companies take the lead in raising shareholder returns, as well as employees’ pay rates, in a move to perk up global economy. Not all profit needs to be stowed away into a bank account. An investment in your employees and shareholders is frankly a smart busines s move that stands to benefit your company in the long-run.

OK – how come all of the oil companies are in top 20?!?!?!? and I’m still payiin $ 2.55 a gallon?

Paul, re Profit being most important measure.. as the saying goes – you can go broke making a profit…

As is currently being exposed – without cashflow or revenue some very ‘profitable’ companies are going under. It just depends what you are looking for in an investment. Both have their merits.

Merck’s profit is up 138% from last year? Someone cooking the books?

$45b might be the most PROFIT but it doesn’t make a company the most PROFITABLE. If it takes proportionately more investment to make $45b than it does to make $20b, I would rather invest in the $20b company. It’s the media’s responsibility to be clear and not mislead readers and drive them to meaningless conclusions.

the ranking should be based on market value of the company which is the actual indication of the company’s strength.

Two Dutch companies in the top 10, shows The Netherlands are economically a powerfull coutry

I see some of the comments say that profit would be a better way to show this list, because that would be closer to reality?

But then companies who would invest the money that they make (and don’t just fill there pockets) would be on the list no matter how big they are.
So reveneu is better (or both maybe)

Good list.

Where is Google?

World’s largest corporations…not world’smost profitable corporations which is another classment!

My indicator is Profit devided by Sales … look at Gazprom … that is the real winner …

wheres is Gazprom?

What happened to IBM?

3M is still the GREATEST American company period!

Why non-ptofits are not listed?

Seven of the top ten are oil companies. That really highlights the world’s dependency.

Remember that this is a ranking of the “largest” companies in the world. “Most profitable” would be a different list. If Susie Q makes 25 cents of profit at her lemonade stand in 2009, that doesn’t make her bigger than Conoco Phillips.

If GM and the other auto makers want to make it they need to look at eliminating the union!!!!!!! Do we really need unions in this day and age? What do they really represent on the bottom line?

Seven out of the top ten are oil, not six. I agree with the “drive your car to get a cup of coffee” comment. Until we drastically change our habits, none of this will change.

Shell has more assets, revenue and treats its employees much better then xom. yes xom is more profitalble.

Curious comments as always! We should not be surprised by 6 / 10 top companies being energy companies. Big oil is flush with money – precisely because we as consumers love the power of the bigger SUV rather than a smaller Toyota corolla (although 90% of the time we don’t really need that additional power), we would rather drive down 2 minutes to the nearby strip mall than walk 15 minutes, we love our independence so much that US with 5% of world population consumes a quarter of global oil. Note that gas price is highly correlated with the Crude oil price per barrel (although not completely) – so you see that as the international crude futures rise, pump prices go up! Crude prices go up because someone is betting that US (and other) consumers will only buy more oil in future. (I am sure there is also some nefarious price fixing going on). Yes, as per TTI, there has been some reduction in our driving because of the downturn – but a 1% down in driving hardly makes a dent in oil prices and oil companies’ profits. As per the report, the average consumer is drving less by only ONE mile over the WHOLE YEAR, not by hundreds of miles. Take that! The only way to break the clutch of big oil is to impose a high and targeted gas tax -one that will reduce budget deficit, stimulate renewable energy research and adoption quicker, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, cut down revenue sources for rogue governments (Iran, Russia) and terrorists and hopefully reduce CO2 emissions. By targeted I mean, if you have a massive SUV, you will pay $3 per gallon gas tax – if you drive a Civic, you will pay 50 cents on a gallon. (obviously the real solution has to be made more complex – for example if you are a small business owner, you will be incented to buy a hybrid truck in which case your gas tax will be $1 instead of $3). That is the only way to wean us as consumers away from our addiction to oil. Either way, we will pay – now we are paying Big Oil, terror sponsors, by polluting the planet, killing one species every 8 minutes – with a gas tax, we will pay for the right reasons and the money will stay within US shores. Else, we will always keep fuming about big oil profits and keep driving our expeditions and hummers for a little ‘Off-roading’ pleasure.

It’s real… and they’re not hurting one bit. The bankruptcy is just a way for the few at the top to sponge from the rest of the company employees, dealers, etc. It’s just a politically correct way to screw everyone else over.

So let me get this strait, you get a ranking based revenue not if the company is operating in the black. GM is bankrupt but yet a success. please…

They should have a 3 separate lists based on Revenues, Assets, and Profits.

Can’t say profit or revenuew are the kings, what about Earnings per Share? That is important too!

Because this is a list of the world’s BIGGEST companies. Not the world’s most profitable companies.

Profit, not revenue, is the most important measure of any company.

Why do they rank them by sales? That is SO misleading!! It’s not what you make….it’s what you keep!! Rank them by net profit next time. That’s closer to reality.

Hummmm…GM is #18…is this ranking for real?

As a Technology Education teacher, Energy companies should commit resources to public Education, globally, Conoco Phillips is a good model.

The question continues to rise in my mind? Since the oil companies are obviously still making enormous profits that appear to only increase every year, why do we, the consurmers, continually have to deal with high gas prices. Even with the drop in oil prices over the last year these companies have managed to ridiculous amounts of money. This shows a couple of things: One, the consumers are being forced to pay way too much at the pump and Two, directly related to One, it is blaringly obvious that the oil companies are extremely greedy. In these tougher economic times, I like everyone else, have had to make certain changes in my day to day life not the least of which is the amount that I drive. I heard just yesterday a report from a company out of Texas that vehicle congestion on the roads has decreased steadily over the last two years. Wouldn’t this steady decrease in driving also decrease demand for gas? So why this summer have gas priced gone up again? I know some would say it is a seasonal trend, but I don’t buy it. That is just another ploy by the greedy big oil to steal more money from the consumer.

Great comments, no go drive your car down to the coffee shop.

But I can’t believe that some oil companies like Conoco Phillips and Pemex didn’t make a profit?!? How is that possible?

They should go green and set up Bright Neighbor systems at each company to make up for their contributions to ecological destruction.

I’ve worked with Allianz’s Euler Hermes Group to insure my receivables. And in this economy they’ve saved me 10 times what I paid in premium in just the last 18 months. Great company, great product, period.

No surprise oil companies dominate: in position and profit. I don’t know if the “oil era” will end in my lifetime, but it is abundantly clear “big oil” has the world by the throat. Most people forget it was high oil prices that pushed the world into this recession. And you can tell that they are just “chomping at the bit” to jack up prices. Any indication the world is coming out of recession, and the prices will skyrocket again. And no, it has nothing to do with supply and demand. It has everything to do with power and greed. World governments work for big oil, or at the very least, have no control over them. So, we’ll continue to get soaked by black gold. Their gold, that is. If Obama or any other world leader even hinted at nationalizing big oil, he wouldn’t make it a week. Yes, big oil does run this world.

WTH? Are they ALL oil and gas? Sign of the times…

With the way gas/oil prices are, does this really shock anyone, that 6 of the top 10 are gas/oil companys. It sure didn’t me. I say lets get them to pay all of us some money, for all they stole from us.

what a joke of a ranking, companies that lose billions are near the top of the list? LOL. Rank based upon PROFITS, not total revenue. It’s people like the authors of this ranking that is the reason we’re in this financial mess we’re in, show me the PROFITS!!!!

These 3 companies total sales is
$ 1.268 trillion! Royal Dutch revenues are up 28.8% from 2007 yet their profit margin is 5.7%: down 16.1%? They must be investing in alternative energy. Yeah, right.

Who? Exxon? The ones that were caught snorting nose candy with the people that were supposed to be monitoring them?

Keep voting for the same people, as long they keep shaking your hand. Meanwhile, the same people sell of the oil source of YOUR america to Exxon, and Exxon makes a gazillion out of this.

—-> Can anyone (deceived) Replublican voter tell me why bush gave the oil sources to Exxon, and not to someone else? Or why Governement didn’t make oil from it’s own sources, but had a private company do it for them? Oh yes, it’s because Exxon bought the Government some nose candy.

I was just wonering why a company as large as Cargill is not on the list? Is that because they are a privately held company? They are about 120 billion dollar a year company.

SunTrust doesn’t make the list with 30,000+ employees?

What do you think of the No. 1 company on Fortune’s Global 500 list this year? Should it be No. 1?

Have you worked for a Global 500 company, or bought its products?

Has the recession affected your opinion of big companies?