Selected by US Economic Magazine Fortune
Korean Companies Increased by 1 from Last Year
1st Place is US Retailer Walmart
China with 135 Companies Surpasses US for 2nd Year
[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] According to Fortune, which selected the 2021 Global 500 companies based on the previous year's sales, 15 Korean companies including Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor, and SK were included. This is an increase of one from 14 companies last year.
In the 'Global 500' companies announced by Fortune on the 2nd (local time), Samsung Electronics ranked 15th, rising 4 places from the previous year. Fortune stated, "Samsung Electronics' sales increased by 26.4% compared to the previous year, driven by growth in the display and memory chip businesses."
Besides Samsung Electronics, nine companies including Hyundai Motor (84th→83rd), LG Electronics (207th→192nd), Kia (229th→215th), Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) (227th→222nd), Hanwha (277th→271st), KB Financial Group (426th→366th), Samsung Life Insurance (467th→416th), and Samsung C&T Corporation (481st→473rd) improved their rankings compared to last year.
On the other hand, four companies including SK (97th→129th), POSCO (194th→226th), Hyundai Mobis (385th→398th), and CJ (437th→450th) saw their rankings fall compared to last year. SK Hynix (452nd) and LG Chem (461st) reappeared this year after not being ranked last year.
The top global company was Walmart, the large American retailer, for the second consecutive year. The 2nd place was China State Grid Corporation (State Grid), and 3rd was American online retailer Amazon. The 4th and 5th places were Chinese companies China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and Sinopec, respectively.
As shown in the top 5 rankings, Chinese companies' strong performance is evident. Among the 500 companies, 135 are Chinese (including Hong Kong) companies, surpassing the United States' 122. Including Taiwanese companies, the number of Greater China region companies reaches 143.
Thus, China has surpassed the United States for the second consecutive year. When Fortune first announced the Global 500 list in 1990, there were no Chinese companies, but in 1997, four companies were included for the first time. Since the 2010s, China has successively overtaken Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Japan, and the United States.
Meanwhile, the number of female CEOs among companies included in this year's Global 500 reached a record high of two. This represents a 160% increase compared to 14 last year, with six companies led by women of color.
Companies with female CEOs include CVS Health, the largest pharmacy chain in the United States, as well as Citigroup, China's Ping An Insurance, Dutch insurer Achmea, and French insurer Engie.
Fortune explained, "There have been recent personnel changes within companies, and companies are either growing rapidly enough to enter the top 500 or shrinking quickly enough to fall out, resulting in significant fluctuations in the number of female CEOs."
The total sales of the top 500 companies decreased by 4.8% from the previous year to $31.7 trillion. Fortune stated, "Although this is about one-third of the world's gross domestic product (GDP), the global economy has significantly slowed due to lockdown measures implemented by countries in response to COVID-19," adding, "The energy and automotive industries saw sales drop by more than 10%."
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