The data that the Assets The information compiled by staff was primarily for internal use. It was not until 1955 that the magazine’s then-assistant editor-in-chief, Edgar P. Smith, argued that readers can be all in favour of the knowledge, and it turned out he was right.
“In its entirety, the 500 was a wide window into the U.S. economy and a reference point for everyone. It was cited by presidents and members of Congress, analyzed by economists and viewed by business leaders,” said the previous Assets Editor-in-Chief Carol Loomis wrote for the list’s fortieth anniversary.
In 1955 Assets The magazine published the primary list of the five hundred largest firms within the United States by revenue, albeit with the less catchy title “Annual Directory of the 500 Largest Corporations.”
General Motors topped the list with sales of $9.8 billion, followed by Standard Oil of New Jersey, later renamed Exxon. Rounding out the highest five were US Steel, General Electric and meatpacking giant Swift, which eventually merged with JBS USA.
These first top 50 firms, which had combined revenues of $69.4 billion, got here from manufacturing, defense, energy, and other similar industries, because the unique Fortune 500 list was not an entire snapshot of the biggest players within the U.S. economy. Instead, the unique list focused on these more concrete industries, and it wasn’t until 1994 that the methodology was expanded to incorporate all firms that file their financial information with a government agency.
However, this doesn’t mean that the magazine didn’t also take a look at other sectors of the economy. For example, banks had their very own Fortune 50 list.
Of Fortune’s first 50 firms, 14 are still on the list, including GM, Goodyear, Lockheed Martin – then Lockheed Aircraft – and Boeing, which has been tormented by quality control controversies of late. The firms that topped the list in 1955 and have shown their endurance make up 28.5% of the entire 49 firms which have appeared in all 70 publications on the list. While that number has remained stable since 2022, there have been 60 firms in 2016, which secured a spot on the list across all years of publication.
Here is the list of the unique top 50 firms from 1955:
https://app.datawrapper.de/archive/recently-edited?search=1955#/xvovo
