Tech
Amazon knocks Walmart from the top spot on Fortune 500 for the first time in 13 years
For the first time in 13 years, the Fortune 500 has a new No. 1— and it’s Amazon.
The Seattle-based e-commerce and cloud giant knocked Walmart from its familiar perch atop the ranking of the biggest U.S. companies by revenue.
Amazon surpassed $700 billion in revenue in 2025 with a 12% year-over-year jump. Just over 20 years ago, the company made its debut on the list at No. 492.
Only four companies have ever held the No. 1 spot in the 72-year history of the Fortune 500 list: General Motors, ExxonMobil, Walmart, and now Amazon.
Walmart fell to No. 2 for the first time since 2012. Here is the top 10:
- Amazon
- Walmart
- UnitedHealth Group
- Apple
- Alphabet
- CVS Health
- Berkshire Hathaway
- McKesson
- Exxon Mobil
- Cencora
The companies on the list combined for $21.0 trillion in revenue and $2.1 trillion in profits last year, while employing 30.5 million people worldwide, according to Fortune.
Amazon posted first-quarter sales of $181.5 billion, up 17%, and operating income of $23.9 billion, up 30%, in earnings reported at the end of April. Amazon Web Services growth accelerated to 28% in the first quarter — its fastest pace in nearly four years.
The tech giant, which employs 1.5 million globally, laid off 16,000 corporate employees in January in the second phase in a restructuring that began last October and totals 30,000 positions — adding up to the largest workforce reduction in the company’s history.
Additional tech-focused nuggets from the Fortune 500 list:
- Microsoft climbed one position to No. 11 to hit its highest ranking ever, fueled by heavy integrations with OpenAI, Azure cloud, and Copilot tools.
- Alphabet repeated as “most profitable company,” eclipsing the $100 billion profit mark for the second year in a row. The company’s $132 billion earnings figure is a record for a Fortune 500 company.
- Nvidia (No. 16) became the first $4 trillion dollar Fortune 500 company and moved past Apple to claim the most valuable company title.
- Meta (No. 17) jumped five spots for its highest-ever ranking.
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