Chapter Content
So, I was reading this, right? And it got me thinking about, like, how much things change. This quote at the beginning was pretty heavy, something about all fortune being good fortune 'cause it either rewards you, disciplines you, or whatever. And that reminded me of the Fortune 500 list.
You know, Fortune magazine, they started publishing this list of the biggest US companies back in 1955, and, wow, looking back at that original top ten? It's a real eye-opener. It just shows that even being huge doesn't mean you're untouchable, you know?
Like, General Motors was, like, *the* top dog back then. I mean, they were number one! But then, boom, they went bankrupt in 2009. Now they're still a big player, sure, but they're not the top. They're like, fourth-largest globally, after Toyota, Volkswagen, and Hyundai. And get this: Hyundai? Didn't even *make* cars back in '55! And Toyota hadn't even exported outside of Japan! And Tesla? Forget about it! That wasn’t even founded until 2003. And now it’s one of the most valuable car companies in America. Crazy, right?
And Chrysler, another car company on that original list? Talk about a rollercoaster! Financial problems, government bailouts, a weird merger with Daimler, more bankruptcy... then Fiat bought them, and now they're part of Stellantis. It's all just so different.
And it's not just the auto industry. There were these two big food companies, Swift and Armour. Now? Well, parts of those businesses are owned by Brazilian and Chinese companies. Standard Oil of New Jersey, they grabbed Mobil (another '55 company) and became ExxonMobil. They're actually the only one that's still on the list from way back then. And Gulf Oil? They got taken over by Chevron.
Even companies like US Steel, DuPont, General Electric. GE was considered *the* best-run company for ages! But then the financial crisis happened, and all this financial stuff was hiding weaknesses in their core business. You know, times just change.
And it wasn't just manufacturing either, retailers like Sears, Montgomery Ward, JCPenney were massive! But they all went bankrupt.
The thing is, all these industries are still huge! People still buy cars, food, oil, all that stuff. It’s not like the demand went away. It's just that the *companies* at the top changed. Instead of the companies from 1955, now we have Toyota, Volkswagen, Nestlé, ArcelorMittal, BASF, Walmart, Amazon, you name it.
It makes you wonder, doesn't it? Someone asked me once about dominant companies that lost their edge. And I thought about it. It’s easier to find companies that *lost* their edge, than to find companies that have held their dominance through the years. Because let's face it, holding on to the top spot? That's a tough game.
And the Fortune 500 today? So different. It includes service businesses now. So, the top spots are Walmart and Amazon... companies that *didn't even exist* back in '55! And there are, like, four healthcare companies at the top! United Health, McKesson, Cencora, CVS Health... names you probably don't recognize, unless you live in the US. Then you have Johnson & Johnson, and Berkshire Hathaway. And that AT&T on today's list? It’s a whole different company than the original one.
Back in '55, it was all American and European companies. Now? Asia's a huge player. Hyundai, Toyota, Samsung, Sony... and Chinese giants like Alibaba, Baidu, and Tencent. Who would've thought that back then, right?
The list looks very different depending on what you're measuring, too. You could look at employment, or assets, or profits. It tells a different story each time.
And when you look at what the most profitable companies are today and their stock market value, you've got Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, Nvidia, Meta (Facebook), Microsoft.
It's just...everything is so specialized now. Some companies provide just labour, others just capital. The whole corporate landscape has changed. Google and Meta don’t even buy inputs or sell outputs, they generate revenue from advertising. The modern corporation is just…different.
Makes you wonder what the Fortune 500 will look like in another fifty years, huh? I guess we'll just have to wait and see.