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Global corporations
The Fortune Global 500 is a ranking of the top 500 corporations worldwide 
as measured by revenue. The list is compiled and published annually by 
Fortune magazine. The USA still dominates the Fortune 500 list of the world’s 
top- performing companies with 133. It has been estimated that over 50 per 
cent of US trade is carried out by global companies. Of the world’s 500 largest 
companies, 40 per cent have their headquarters in the USA, 30 per cent are 
based in Europe and the rest are mostly in China, India and Japan.
Rank
Company
Country
Field
1
Wal- Mart Stores
USA
Retail
2
Royal Dutch Shell
UK/Netherlands
Petroleum
3
ExxonMobil
USA
Petroleum
4
BP
UK
Petroleum
5
Sinopec Group
China
Petroleum
6
China National Petroleum
China
Petroleum
7
State Grid
China
Petroleum
8
Toyota Motors
Japan
Automobiles
9
Japan Post Holdings
Japan
Diverse
10
Chevron
USA
Petroleum
Figure 11.2 Top Fortune Global 500 2011 companies (adapted from Fortune Global 
500, 2011: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2011/full_list [date 
accessed 14 December 2012])
Wal- Mart was the largest company on the list in 2007 and 2008. 
ExxonMobil was in second place in 2007 and 2008, but overtook Wal- Mart 
in 2009. Wal- Mart regained the top spot in 2010.
An increasing number of global companies from emerging markets, in 
particular from the BRICs, are now appearing in the list. They include, for 
example, Gazprom (Russia), Petrobus (Brazil), Indian Oil and Tata Group 
(India) and Permex (Mexico). However, the G20 nations still represent 
80 per cent of the world’s economic output.
Below is a ranking of the top eight countries with the most Global 
500 companies in 2011:
1. The USA 133 (165 in 2001)
2. Japan
68

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214 Cross-Cultural Communication
3. China 
61 (12 in 2001)
4. France 
39
5. Germany 
37
6. The UK 
29
7. Switzerland 
15
8. The Netherlands 13
(Fortune Global 500, 2011)