Fortune 500:
Missouri is Home to Eleven Top Businesses
Fortune Magazine recently released the Fortune 500 list for 2005. The top five U.S. companies, by 2004 revenues, were Wal-Mart ($288.2 billion), Exxon Mobil ($270.7 billion), General Motors ($193.5 billion), Ford Motor ($172.2 billion), and General Electric ($152.4 billion). Wal-Mart topped the list for the fourth straight year and the remainder of the top five is the same as in 2004.
Companies on the Fortune 500 list had continued strong growth from 2003, with revenues and profits increasing over the year. Total revenues topped $8.2 trillion and profits grew to $513.5 billion. Thirty-eight of the 42 industries tracked by Fortune registered profit growth in 2004. Companies in the commodities and energy sectors saw the greatest success over the year, while the airline and telecommunications industries suffered through another difficult year.
Eleven Missouri-based companies made this year's list of companies with the greatest revenues, down one from last year. Farmland Industries is no longer on the Fortune list and Interstate Bakeries fell just out of the Top 500 at 509. Peabody Energy, a coal mining and processing company headquartered in St. Louis, joined the Missouri list at 497th, up from 547th last year. Emerson Electric (134th) was the state's highest-ranking company for 2004 with revenues of $15.6 billion.
Most of the Missouri companies are headquartered in the St. Louis area, with the exception of H&R Block in Kansas City and Leggett & Platt in Carthage. Only Charter Communications reported a loss in profits in 2004.
These eleven companies employ over 25,000 people in Missouri and pay wages totaling over $1.7 billion (Source: MERIC, QCEW Program).
| Missouri Fortune 500 Companies | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Company | Rank | Previous Rank | Revenues ($mil) | Profits ($mil) | Headquarters | Primary Business |
| Emerson Electric | 134 | 144 | $15,615.0 | $1,257.0 | St. Louis | Electronic Components |
| Express Scripts | 137 | 151 | $15,114.7 | $278.2 | Maryland Heights | Pharmacy Benefits Management |
| Anheuser-Busch | 139 | 142 | $14,934.2 | $2,240.3 | St. Louis | Malt Beverages; Aluminum Products; Amusements Parks |
| May Dept. Store | 147 | 147 | $14,441.0 | $524.0 | St. Louis | Department Stores |
| Monsanto | 357 | 353 | $5,478.0 | $267.0 | St. Louis | Agriculture and Biotechnology |
| Ameren Corporation | 380 | 382 | $5,160.0 | $530.0 | St. Louis | Utilities |
| Leggett & Platt | 384 | 397 | $5,085.5 | $285.4 | Carthage | Furniture and Fixtures |
| Charter Communications | 390 | 358 | $4,977.0 | ($4,341.0) | St. Louis | Cable and Other TV Services |
| H&R Block | 454 | 449 | $4,205.6 | $697.9 | Kansas City | Tax Preparation and Financial Services |
| Graybar Electric | 462 | 448 | $4,093.5 | $14.0 | St. Louis | Electronic Parts and Equipment |
| Peabody Energy | 497 | 547 | $3,631.6 | $175.4 | St. Louis | Coal Mining and Processing |
| TOTAL | $92,736.1 | $1,928.2 | ||||
Source: Fortune Magazine, April 200
5Missouri ranked 13th among the states in the number of Fortune 1000 company headquarters with 29. Of the surrounding states, only Illinois had more with 61. California led the states with 110 Fortune 1000 headquarters, followed by Texas (94), New York (90) and Ohio (60). Six states had no Fortune 1000 company headquarters.
April 2005
