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Wal-Mart by the numbers

A look inside the retail giant, the No. 1 company on the Fortune 500 list - from salaries to its biggest-selling product. Watch
Customize a Dreamliner

Boeing, No. 27 on the Fortune 500, relies on thousands of workers around the globe to manufacture each unique 787. Watch
Nike's run-up to the Olympics

A major footwear supplier to the Games, and no. 153 on this year's list, says it's not their job to address concerns over human rights in China. Watch
Apparel giant's success secret

VF, no. 335 on this year's list, boosts growth by buying successful cult brands, like shoemaker Vans, and giving them freedom to flourish. Watch

Rank # of Fortune 500 Companies
Texas	58
New York	55
California	52

Company	Rank
Valero Energy	16
Goldman Sachs	20
Microsoft	44

See the rest

FAQ and methodology

Included in the survey are U.S. incorporated companies filing financial statements with a government agency. This includes private companies... More

Current Issue

100 Best Companies to Work For

FORTUNE 500

Our annual ranking of America's largest corporations

30 of 1000

30. Merrill Lynch

Get Quote: MER

Financials: Latest Results

Rank: 30 (Previous rank: 22)
Compare tool: Merrill Lynch vs. Top 10
CEO: John A. Thain
Address: 4 World Financial Center
New York, NY 10080
Phone: 212-449-1000
Website: www.ml.com

Big drama unfolded at the Wall Street firm last year. Under CEO Stanley O'Neal, it had invested heavily in collateralized debt obligations backed by subprime mortgages. Following a third-quarter writedown of $8.4 billion for its mortgage losses, O'Neal floated the idea of a merger with the executives of Wachovia - except he didn't consult Merrill's board, a major breach of corporate conduct.

In October, O'Neal was ousted and later replaced by John Thain, former chief executive of the NYSE. With a fourth-quarter writedown of $14.6 billion and its worst-ever quarterly loss, Merrill ended the year in the red by $7.7 billion.

	$ millions	% change from 2006
Revenues	64,217.0	-9.0
Profits	-7,777.0	-203.7
Assets	1,020,050.0	—
Stockholders' equity	31,932.0	—
Market value (3/28/2008)	39,195.8	—

Profits as % of
Revenues	-12.1
Assets	-0.8
Stockholders' equity	-24.4

Earnings per share
2007 $	-9.69
% change from 2006	-227.7
1997-2007 annual growth rate %	N.A.

Total return to investors	%
2007	-41.2
1997-2007 annual rate	5.3

Industry: Securities

Rank	Company	500 rank	Revenues ($ millions)
1	Goldman Sachs Group	20	87,968.0
2	Morgan Stanley	21	87,879.0
3	Merrill Lynch	30	64,217.0


4	Lehman Brothers Holdings	37	59,003.0
5	Bear Stearns	156	16,151.0
6	Franklin Resources	389	6,205.8
7	Charles Schwab	402	6,063.0
8	BlackRock	475	4,844.7
9	International Assets Holding	512	4,460.3
10	Legg Mason	524	4,343.7
11	NYSE Euronext	542	4,158.0
12	A.G. Edwards	655	3,126.1
13	Raymond James Financial	658	3,109.6
14	Jefferies Group	726	2,718.9
15	TD Ameritrade	746	2,632.4
16	Nasdaq OMX Group	786	2,436.6
17	T. Rowe Price	831	2,233.1
18	E*Trade Financial	833	2,222.6
19	Interactive Brokers Group	890	2,023.4
20	CME Group	959	1,756.1