Good morning, Peter Vanham here in Geneva, filling in for Alan.
The first-ever Fortune 500 Europe is out today (along with a new Europe homepage), and the ranking busts quite a few myths about the continent. The list of Europe’s largest companies by revenue reads like a kind of throwback to the 20th century, when energy and automotive industries dominated the global economy, and companies were led by men.
Consider first the very largest companies on the list. The top spot is held by British energy giant Shell, with six energy companies and three automotive companies featuring in the top 10. Compare that to the U.S., and the difference is stark: in the U.S.-based Fortune 500, three Big Tech companies—Amazon, Apple, and Alphabet—cracked the top 10. In Europe, the largest pure tech company is SAP...at No. 114, followed by 1990s icons Ericsson (No. 141) and Nokia (No. 147).
You’d have to go back to those late 1990s to find a Fortune 500 akin to what the Fortune 500 Europe looks like today. Twenty-five years ago, GM topped the U.S. list with Ford and Chrysler not far behind, and Exxon, Mobil (and GE, to a lesser extent) representing the energy sector in the top 10.
On the diversity front, too, Europe lags the U.S. Just 7% of Fortune 500 Europe companies are led by a woman, compared to 10% of the U.S. list. It is a far cry from the progressive image that some may have of Europe.
Combine these statistics with Europe's ever-declining share of global GDP, and you get a rather bleak conclusion. Or are we witnessing Europe's darkest moment before its dawn?
In a feature published today, I look at the case of Holcim (No. 121 on the Europe list), one of the world’s largest construction materials companies. Once a pure volume player in this heavy industry, the company has recently made a hard pivot towards sustainability, betting on quality over quantity. With Europe leading the world in “green” regulation, it may provide a path forward for other Europe 500 companies.
You can explore the full list here. And if you’d like to keep reading about how European companies can shape the future of the global economy, you can now sign up for our new CEO Weekly Europe newsletter, which launches later this month. Every week, I’ll unpack how Europe’s largest companies are navigating challenges like the AI revolution, the green transition, and geopolitical rebalancing.
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Peter Vanham
peter.vanham@fortune.com
@petervanham
