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7 hours ago
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Welcome to the Fortune 500's 71st annual edition
In today's CEO Daily: Diane Brady on the Fortune 500's new edition. The big story: China accuses U.S. of 'violating' trade truce. The markets: Worried about China-U.S. trade tensions. Analyst notes from UBS, Deutsche Bank, and Goldman Sachs. Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune. Good morning. We just published the 71st annual edition of the Fortune 500, our definitive list of America's largest companies. The minimum cutoff to make the list this year is $7.4 billion in revenue, up 4% from 2024. Walmart earned the top spot for the 13th straight year, with more than $648 billion in revenues. But Alphabet was America's most profitable company, with more than $100 billion in profits, and Apple was No. 1 by market cap. In total, Fortune 500 companies represent two-thirds of U.S. GDP with $19.9 trillion in revenues, $1.9 trillion in profits, $46 trillion in market cap, and some 31 million employees worldwide. What's fascinating about this list is its evolution, as new players displace old ones in an ever-shifting business landscape. Despite geopolitical turmoil, tech disruptions, economic uncertainty, and more, there are only 22 new names on this year's list, which is the second-lowest turnover in the past three decades. Newcomers include Oscar Health, Palo Alto Networks, and spinoffs like energy giant GE Vernova and Kenvue, formerly the consumer health care division of Johnson & Johnson. Among those who dropped off: Liberty Media and timber company Weyerhaeuser. 2025 may turn out to be the calm before the storm, as AI is already making an impact. Nvidia more than doubled its revenue last year, as did server company Super Micro Computer. Chipmakers Broadcom and Micron Technology also reaped AI-driven gains. Vistra, which provides power for AI data centers, saw its stock more than triple in 2024. But the biggest gainers on that front were Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which set investors' hopes soaring with reports that they might exit government receivership. Finally, while the number of billion-dollar startups may have waned—remember this cover story?—a growing number of Fortune 500 companies are now eyeing trillion-dollar valuations. Berkshire Hathaway became the first non-tech company to join a club that counts Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Amazon, Alphabet, and Meta as members. More news CEO Daily via Diane Brady at In total, Fortune 500 companies represent two-thirds of U.S. GDP with $19.9 trillion in revenues, and they employ 31 million people worldwide. Last year, they combined to earn $1.87 trillion in profits, up 10% from last year—and a record in dollar terms. View the full list, read a longer overview of how it shook out this year, and learn more about the companies via the stories below. This year, Alphabet became the first company on the Fortune 500 to surpass $100 billion in profits. Take an inside look at which industries, and companies, earned the most profits on this year's list. Read more UnitedHealth Group abruptly brought back former CEO Stephen Hemsley in mid-May amid a wave of legal investigations and intense stock losses. How can the insurer get back on its feet? Read more NRG Energy is the top-performing stock in the S&P 500 this year, gaining 68% on the back of big acquisitions and a bet on data centers. In his own words, CEO Larry Coben explains the company's success. Read more This story was originally featured on Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
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5 days ago
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UnitedHealth Group has an unusual new CEO pay package
In today's CEO Daily: Geoff Colvin on UnitedHealth Group's controversial CEO pay package. The big story: U.S.-China trade talks stall. The markets: Mixed in the face of tariff uncertainty. Analyst notes from UBS, Deutsche Bank, and Macquarie. Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune. Good morning. Geoff Colvin writing today. It has been quite a year for UnitedHealth Group (UHG)—and now in addition to myriad other troubles, UHG is adding a controversial CEO pay package to its plate. The giant healthcare concern has seen an unprecedented loss of value recently. UHG is America's largest healthcare company, No. 3 on the Fortune 500, but in April it reported a surprisingly terrible first-quarter performance. The stock price plunged, then kept plunging for weeks. CEO Andrew Witty resigned abruptly for unspecified personal reasons, and the board chairman, Stephen Hemsley, took over as CEO. Hemsley, who turns 73 in June, will be trying to rescue the colossus he helped build as CEO from 2006 to 2017. While investors might have expected he would hold the job only until a new CEO is found, Hemsley and the board have other ideas. The highly unusual pay package they created for him shows how. He will get a base salary of $1 million a year—big money but actually below the usual salary for CEOs of such large companies. More importantly, he would get a one-time $60 million grant of stock options, with a twist: He would get the payoff only if he remains CEO for three years. He would get no other stock-based awards in that period. Shareholders will get to vote on that unconventional pay plan at UHG's June 2 annual meeting. Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), the largest firm that advises major shareholders on how to vote, advises they vote No. They cite a lack of performance criteria and the fact that the stock is so beaten down he might get a windfall for a mere share price rebound. UHG struck back, sending shareholders an explanation of what ISS allegedly missed and why they should vote for Hemsley's pay package. Bottom line, Hemsley and UHG will probably get the pay package they negotiated. ISS's recommendations are taken seriously, but shareholders usually vote in favor of management. Even if UHG loses the vote, which companies must hold by law, the result is non-binding and advisory only; the board of directors could simply ignore the shareholders' wishes. In addition, UHG notes that ISS's main competitor, Glass Lewis, is recommending shareholders vote in favor of Hemsley's pay package. Regardless of the outcome, the contested vote will be significant. It will raise the already high stakes for UHG, its directors, and for Hemsley. More news CEO Daily via Diane Brady at This story was originally featured on Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
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6 days ago
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Ruling against Trump tariffs is a win for the legislative branch
In today's CEO Daily: Diane Brady on Trump's tariff loss in court. The big story: Nvidia beats expectations. The markets: Pleased with the court ruling. Analyst notes on the tariff ruling from UBS, Convera, and Deutsche Bank. Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune. Good morning. For months, many business leaders have quietly opposed President Trump's tariffs—quietly because many were shocked and unnerved that one man could upend the global economy and hard-wrought trade deals with a flash of his pen from the Oval Office. The president had justified his sweeping unilateral orders under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 (IEEPA), citing trade as a national emergency. But on Wednesday, the U.S. Court of International Trade unanimously ruled that IEEPA did not confer such authority, invalidating Trump's 'Liberation Day' tariffs and fentanyl-related tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China. In many ways, this is a triumph of the legislative branch of government, reasserting the role of Congress in levying tariffs and establishing limits on the executive branch. The court itself was established by an act of Congress in 1980 and traces its roots back to a tariff law passed in 1789. What this ruling does to current trade negotiations and recent deals remains to be seen. But the U.S. futures markets reacted positively Wednesday night, further fueling investor hopes that a trade war can be averted. (On a separate note, Elon Musk announced Wednesday that he's leaving Washington, ending another act of the executive branch that gave the unelected entrepreneur powers that critics had argued were unlawful.) Now, of course, the tariffs drama will shift back to the judicial branch of government after the president's lawyers indicated that they would appeal the court's decision. Ultimately, the scope of presidential powers and clarity on what constitutes an emergency order under IEEPA may be decided by the Supreme Court. In the meantime, a little-known institution operating out of lower Manhattan has reminded the rest of the world that the rule of law and division of powers matter. More news CEO Daily via Diane Brady at This story was originally featured on Sign in to access your portfolio
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7 days ago
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Health care AI revolution starts with building trust
In today's CEO Daily: Diane Brady on building patient and doctor trust in AI. The big story: Stellantis names a new boss The markets: Taking a breather after Tuesday's jump Analyst notes from Morningstar on Nvidia earnings; Convera on the Fed; and UBS on Trump's tariff swings. Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune. Good morning. From diagnosing illness to reducing paperwork, AI is already reshaping health care. But only 48% of U.S. patients surveyed in the 2025 Philips Future Health Index (FHI) believe AI will improve outcomes, vs. 63% of clinicians. That trust gap is hardly surprising in a country where many of us experience delays, unforeseen expenses, denials and general frustration in accessing the health care system. As Philips chief innovation officer Shez Partovi has noted, it's an issue we need to address to realize the potential gains of AI adoption. As we discussed at a recent Fortune dinner with Partovi and a dozen leaders of major health care systems around the country, closing the gap is a multipronged challenge. Public trust in the U.S. health care system fell from 71.5% in 2020 to 40.1% in 2024, in part due to COVID, and more than a third of Americans say they've skipped or postponed care because of the cost. Add in concerns about discrimination, as well as how personal health data may be used, and it's understandable why patients may not welcome AI. My colleague Jason Del Rey spoke about that challenge at the dinner with Partovi; Northwell Health chief medical officer Jill Kalman; and David Reich, chief clinical officer of the Mount Sinai Medical System. Kalman and Reich agreed that the first step for them was to build trust with professionals. 'When you obsessively build AI into workflows in ways that make people's jobs better, then you develop that trust,' Reich said. 'To give an example, when we developed an algorithm that predicted severe malnutrition in the hospital, dietitians at first were a little skeptical, but they were involved in the process, and they are now three times more likely to diagnose and treat severe malnutrition than before.' Kalman added that there's a generational element to trust in technology—indeed the study found one third of patients over 45 are optimistic that AI can improve health care vs. two thirds of those aged between 18 and 44—and argued that transparency is key. 'You have a health system that has all of these huge reams of data,' she noted. 'Who owns it? Who monetizes it? Who wants it?' On the plus side, she says Northwell now uses AI to streamline prior authorization: 'There's no risk to the patient and the operational value is incredible.' More news CEO Daily via Diane Brady at This story was originally featured on
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27-05-2025
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Some CEOs still don't understand how important it is to implement AI—and how little time there is left
In today's CEO Daily: Peter Vanham on the importance of AI for CEOs. The big story: Apple CEO Tim Cook reportedly declines White House invitation. The markets: Very happy about Trump's EU tariff delay. Analyst notes from Deutsche Bank on rising bond yields; Convera on the U.S. dollar's woes; and Goldman Sachs on tariff-related inflation. Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune. Good morning. Peter Vanham writing from Geneva this morning. Could it be that for all the AI hype we've already had, some CEOs still haven't understood how important it is to implement it across their organization, and how little time there is left to do so? Nicolai Tangen, the CEO of Norway's $1.8 trillion sovereign wealth fund, certainly seems to feel that way. After speaking with CEO Daily earlier this month he asked if we could chat again, this time specifically about AI. As a leading investor in many Global Fortune 500 companies including Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Alphabet and Amazon, he explained that he's starting to see disparities between AI leaders and laggards grow by the day. 'AI is a once in a lifetime opportunity. I have never seen a period where a company can pull apart from competition by like 20% in one year. It's totally unheard of,' he said, hailing SAP, the German software company that recently overtook LVMH to become Europe's most valuable company, as a case in point. But those gains don't come for free, he also warned. To reap them, you need to be serious about it in every part of the organization, starting at the top. And it's here he is still often frustrated. 'If the leader is not relentless about it,' Tangen said, 'it won't happen.' Similarly, he said, you need 'young, tech-savvy' ambassadors who experiment with AI at the base of your organization (and are given appropriate tools to do so); and middle management and compliance departments that act as enablers, rather than actors who stand in the way. 'Companies are turned upside down', he said. 'You see change coming from newly recruited people. In the past, middle managers had to disseminate information from the top. Now [their job] is to pull information from under, and make sure it goes up.' In an environment where AI is everywhere, including in productivity figures, the time for laggards to catch up is running out. Tangen's advice? 'You just need to implement AI in everything you can. […] People don't like change. You need to force them.' At the Norwegian State Investment Fund (NBIM) itself, AI-induced change is well underway, and communicated regularly via Town Halls where use cases are disseminated. And earlier this month, Tangen announced a hiring freeze as a result of its AI productivity gains. More news CEO Daily via Diane Brady at This story was originally featured on Sign in to access your portfolio
