Missouri is Home to 10 Fortune 500 Businesses
Fortune Magazine recently released its 2019 Fortune 500 rankings. Ten Missouri-based companies were included in this year’s Fortune 500 list. Centene moved into the position of the highest ranked Missouri company among Fortune 500 companies, up to 51 from 61 last year, with revenues of $60.1 billion. Other Missouri companies that experienced rank increases from the previous year include: Edward Jones, Graybar Electric, Olin, and Post Holdings. Post Holdings had the largest increase, climbing 41 spots from 512 to 471 in the rankings.
| 2018 - Missouri Fortune 500 Companies | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Company | Rank | Previous Rank | Revenue ($MIL) | Revenue Change | Profits ($MIL) | Headquarters | Primary Business |
| Centene | 51 | 61 | $60,116 | 23.8% | $900 | St. Louis | Health Care: Insurance & Managed Care |
| Emerson Electric | 178 | 178 | $17,408 | 6.8% | $2,203 | St. Louis | Industrial Machinery |
| Reinsurance Group of America | 251 | 234 | $12,876 | 2.9% | $716 | Chesterfield | Insurance - Life, Health |
| O'Reilly Automotive | 329 | 329 | $9,536 | 6.2% | $1,325 | Springfield | Retail - Automotive |
| Jones Financial (Edward Jones) | 356 | 376 | $8,594 | 13.1% | $990 | Des Peres | Finance - Securities |
| Graybar Electric | 423 | 426 | $7,203 | 8.6% | $143 | St. Louis | Wholesale |
| Olin | 434 | 448 | $6,946 | 10.8% | $328 | Clayton | Chemicals |
| Ameren | 468 | 453 | $6,291 | 1.8% | $815 | St. Louis | Gas and Electric |
| Post Holdings | 471 | 512 | $6,257 | 19.7% | $467 | St. Louis | Food Consumer Products |
| Peabody Energy | 499 | 491 | $5,582 | 0.1% | $647 | St. Louis | Energy, Oil Production |
| Total | $140,809 | $8,534 | |||||
*Source: Fortune Magazine, Fortune 500 online, June 2019. http://fortune.com/fortune500/
Most of Missouri’s Fortune 500 companies are based in the St. Louis area, with the one exception being O’Reilly Automotive, which is headquartered in Springfield. The acquisition of two notable Missouri Companies in 2018 by companies located outside of Missouri—Express Scripts, which was purchased by Cigna Corporation, and Monsanto, which was purchased by Bayer Pharmaceuticals—caused them to fall off of the list. Profits for the remaining companies increased nearly $8.0 billion over 2018. Missouri’s ten Fortune 500 companies employed over 291,880 people, of which approximately 23,000 are Missouri residents and were paid roughly $2.4 billion in wages according to the 2018 analysis of Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages program data.
The top five U.S. companies are Wal-Mart Stores ($514.4 billion), Exxon Mobil ($290.2 billion), Apple ($265.6 billion), Berkshire Hathaway ($247.8 billion), and Amazon.com ($232.9 billion). Berkshire Hathaway and Apple switched places from the previous year, with Apple claiming the number three spot and Berkshire Hathaway falling to number four. Amazon.com climbed three ranks (from 8 to 5), increasing its revenue $55.0 billion over the past year. From the Top Ten, AmerisourceBergen climbed three ranks to secure the tenth spot.
| 2018 - TOP 10 Fortune 500 Companies in the U.S. | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Company | Rank | Previous Rank | Revenue ($MIL) | Revenue Change | Profits ($MIL) | Headquarters | Primary Business |
| Walmart | 1 | 1 | $514,405 | 2.8% | $6,670 | Bentonville, AK | General Merchandisers |
| Exxon Mobil | 2 | 2 | $290,212 | 18.8% | $20,840 | Irving, TX | Petroleum Refining |
| Apple | 3 | 4 | $265,595 | 15.9% | $59,531 | Cupertino, CA | Computers, Office Equipment |
| Berkshire Hathaway | 4 | 3 | $247,837 | 2.4% | $4,021 | Omaha, NE | Insurance: Property and Casualty |
| Amazon.com | 5 | 8 | $232,887 | 30.9% | $10,073 | Seattle, WA | Internet Services and Retailing |
| UnitedHealth Group | 6 | 5 | $226,247 | 12.5% | $11,986 | Minnetonka, MN | Health Care: Insurance and Managed Care |
| McKesson | 7 | 6 | $208,357 | 4.9% | $67 | Irving, TX | Health Care: Wholesalers |
| CVS Health | 8 | 7 | $194,579 | 5.3% | -$594 | Woonsocket, RI | Health Care: Pharmacy and Other Services |
| AT&T | 9 | 9 | $170,756 | 6.4% | $19,370 | Dallas, TX | Telecommunications |
| AmerisourceBergen | 10 | 12 | $167,940 | 9.7% | $1,658 | Chesterbrook, PA | Wholesalers: Health Car |
*Source: Fortune Magazine, Fortune 500 online, June 2019. http://fortune.com/fortune500/
The map below illustrates the number of Fortune 500 companies located in each state. At the national level, New York is currently home to 56 Fortune 500 company headquarters, with California closely behind with 53 and Texas with 49. Taking a closer look at Missouri’s neighboring states, Illinois tops out at 36 Fortune 500 headquarters, followed by Tennessee with 10.
