Walmart has taken over the lead from Royal Dutch Shell as the largest company in the world, according to the most recent rankings by the Fortune Magazine’s Global 500.
The Fortune Global 500 rates the world's largest companies based on revenue. Walmart maintained a lead status till two years ago when it was pushed aside by Shell. It has now regained the top spot with $476 billion revenue, up 1.5% compared to last year.
The U.S. continues to dominate the list with 128 companies represented. However, four American companies dropped off the list this year; six new Chinese firms joined the ranks bringing China’s total to 95 companies in the top 500.
China
Of the 23 newly-listed Fortune 500 companies, 7 are Chinese, with the China Development Bank coming in at number 122, the highest-ranking newcomer. According to the bank, it supported the government's economic policies with more than $160 billion in loans.
Pacific Construction Group was the highest-ranking private company, leap-frogging into the number 166 spot.
The top 10 list is represented by diverse countries with 3 from China and 2 from the U.S. The remaining companies are from the Netherlands, UK, Switzerland, Germany and Japan.
Russia
Two Russian corporations debuted on the Global 500 this year-- Russian VTB Bank, the country's second largest banking group, and the power networks company Russian Grids. The addition of these 2 companies brings the total number of the country's companies on the list to eight.
Gazprom, Russia's state-owned energy giant, has improved its standing within the top 20 by climbing from 21 to 17, despite being at the center of the Ukraine crisis. Gazprom signed a huge gas deal with China in May, securing an estimated $456 billion over the 30-year term. In fact, Gazprom was one of the companies within the 20 that have jumped four ranks up during the last year.
The Gender Ratio
Despite efforts to the contrary, the number of women heading the world’s largest companies remains way below what it should be with only 12 women making it into the elite club of Global 500 CEOs in 2013. In fact, only 17 of the Global 500 companies have female CEOs, compared to 24 in the U.S.-only Fortune 500 ratings.