What is a Fortune 500 company? The story behind the list

The Fortune 500 list is the ultimate measure of success for U.S. companies and Fortune’s flagship ranking.

In a letter proposing the business magazine to advertisers in 1929, Time founder Henry Luce envisioned the publication as a way to “reflect Industrial Life in ink and paper and word and picture, as the finest skyscraper reflects it in stone and steel and architectural design.”

Created over three decades after Fortune’s birth, the Fortune 500 was first a shot-in-the-dark idea by a journalist hoping to elucidate the world of business to a wider audience. The list is now the benchmark for companies around the world and a consistent metric with which to assess the country’s economic health.

With the release of the 2026 Fortune 500 on Wednesday, here are the basics on Fortune’s flagship list.

What is a Fortune 500 company?

Simply put, the Fortune 500 is a list of the largest 500 U.S. companies, public and private, ranked based on revenue. 

Investors use the list to track the rise and fall of American companies and make conclusions about the country’s economic health, and companies use it as a way to assess its growth and competitive ed...