The 2023 Fortune 500 list has some new entrants, with 15 companies making their debut this year. Together, they raked in $146.2 billion in revenue and saw an average growth rate of 52.6%. The minimum revenue needed to make this year’s list was $7.24 billion, about $850 million more than last year’s $6.39 billion.
Some new entries are attributed to corporate machinations like mergers, spinoffs, and corporate address changes that allow firms to enter the list on a technicality more than anything else. However, a select few made the list on organic revenue growth alone.
Airbnb saw a 35% increase in dollar sales from rentals, totaling $16.3 billion, as pent-up demand for travel soared. Skechers had a second consecutive year of record sales, up $1.1 billion from 2021, while software company ServiceNow rode the remote work wave fueling sales for its organizational tools.
Four energy companies debuted on the list, tied with tech for the most of any sector. The energy industry was buoyed by record-high prices from the combined macro trends of inflation and the ongoing war in Ukraine, allowing firms to charge higher prices for the same products. One standout was Continental Resource—the highest-ranked energy company among the debutants at No. 407—which saw profits climb 142.3% to $4 billion in 2022.
Most notable on the list is the recently disgraced Silicon Valley Bank at No. 491. If not for its March collapse, SVB would have been preparing to celebrate a then-record year of $7.4 billion in revenue thanks to its longstanding relationship with venture capital clients. Those very same clients triggered a bank run when SVB disclosed a $1.8 billion loss after selling $21 billion of bonds. Ironically, the bank's 2022 year-end report included boilerplate language that turned out to be unexpectedly prescient. “Liquidity risk could impair our ability to fund operations and jeopardize our financial condition.”
Coupang, No. 195
The South Korean e-commerce giant debuted on the Fortune 500 after relocating its headquarters from Seoul to Seattle.
CEO: Bom Kim
Revenue: $20.6 billion
Revenue % change YoY: 11.8%
Profit: -$92 million
Profit % change YoY: Loss to loss
