17. Discover Financial Services
2010 Fortune 500 rank: 286
2009 profit growth: 37.6%
2009 revenue growth: 12.7%
CEO since 2004: David Nelms
Like other card company CEOs, David Nelms has been hard hit with legislation that imposed heavy restrictions on fees and rate increases.
His consolation prize: Discover is owed $2.75 billion after settling a lawsuit against Visa and Mastercard.
Between the 2008 Diners Club acquisition and cuts in marketing and employment, Discover's earnings rose 38%, to $1.3 billion, on revenues of $8 billion, a 13% uptick.
NEXT: 18. Gilead Sciences
