ExxonMobil overtakes Wal-Mart on Fortune 500

WalMart, which has held the top spot on the Fortune 500 list for the past 6 of seven years, gave it up today when Exxon Mobil overtook the retail giant, showing that the falling oil prices has little effect on the bottom line of the oil company.

Fortune’s closely watched list, released Sunday, ranked companies by their revenue in 2008. Irving, Texas-based Exxon took in $442.85 billion in revenue last year, up almost 19 percent from 2007. The company also raked in the biggest annual profit, earning $45.2 billion.

Although it may have been a good year for Exxon and Wal-Mart, 2008 was far from rosy for most of remaining companies on the list. Overall earnings plunged 85 percent to $98.9 billion from $645 billion in 2007, the biggest one-year decline in the 55-year history of the Fortune 500 list.

“America is getting used to the sound of bubbles bursting,” Fortune said.

Energy companies continued to dominate many of the top positions, as last summer’s skyrocketing oil and gas prices more than compensated for their plunge later that fall. Chevron Corp. held on to third place with $263.16 billion in revenue, up 25 percent. ConocoPhillips climbed one place to fourth, with $230.76 billion in revenue.

I think that people are still pretty angry at Exxon and other oil companies raking in record profits while we were all stuck paying $4 a gallon at the pump. Gas prices ere simply ridiculous and these companies were taking all the benefits.

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