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1. Wal-Mart Stores
Wal-Mart Stores
Financials: Latest Results
Rank: 1 (Previous rank: 1)
CEO: Michael T. Duke
Employees: 2,100,000
Address: 702 S.W. Eighth St.
Bentonville, Arkansas  72716
Country: U.S.
Website: www.walmartstores.com

Wal-Mart Stores maintains its perch atop the corporate ladder, taking the top spot on this year's Fortune's 500 and Global 500 lists, both for the second year in a row.

A company that big makes big headlines, both good and bad. For example, Wal-Mart continues to receive credit for its role as a leader in corporate sustainability. The company launched its "Sustainability Index" in 2009 in an effort to assume accountability for its products' origins and to make that information transparent to customers.

But Wal-mart has also been in the spotlight this year for a gender discrimination suit involving 1.5 million of its current and former female employees. The Supreme Court threw the case out on the grounds that the women couldn't pursue it as a single class, but the retail giant will likely have to face these claims in smaller groups in the months and years to come.

And while Wal-Mart may be the biggest company in the world, it has suffered from a sales slump back home: U.S. same-store sales have declined for eight straight quarters. --By Shelley DuBois, writer-reporter


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  $ millions % change from 2009
Revenues 421,849.0 3.3
Profits 16,389.0 14.3
Assets 180,663.0 --
Stockholders' equity 68,542.0 --
Profits as % of  
Revenues 4
Assets 9.1
From the July 25, 2011 issue
Figures are for fiscal year ended Jan. 31, 2011.
Editor's note: Chrysler Group was erroneously omitted from the Global 500 listing. With revenue of $41.9 billion, Chrysler ranks No.205 among all the companies in the world and 61st in the U.S. As a result, Bristol-Myers Squibb, which had ranked No.500, falls off the list. Updates may be found for the full list, rankings by country, and the list of arrivals. Fortune regrets the error.
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Rank # of Global 500 Companies
U.S. 133
Japan 68
China 61
Company 2010 Number of Employees
Wal-Mart Stores 2,100,000
China National Petroleum 1,674,541
State Grid 1,564,000
Company 2010 Profits
($ millions)
Nestlé $32,843
Gazprom $31,895
Exxon Mobil $30,460
FAQ and methodology
All companies on the list must publish financial data and report part or all of their figures to a government agency. In the U.S., private companies and cooperatives... More
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