Walmart on top of Fortune 500 list

According to Fortune, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is on top of the Fortune 500 list for the third straight year, remaining the largest company in the country.

Revenue of Wal-Mart was $485.7 billion in its fiscal year, ending on January 31; it was over $100 billion ahead of number two, Exxon Mobil of Irving, Texas; the company had revenue of $382.6 billion last year.

Chevron, which is based in San Ramon, Calif., was at third position with $203.8 billion in revenue last year. Berkshire Hathaway of Omaha, Neb., Warren Buffet's conglomerate of companies, held fourth position with $194.7 billion in revenue. General Motors of Detroit was at fifth position with $155.9 billion in revenue.

It is for the eighth time in the past 10 years and the 11th time on the whole that Wal-Mart has topped the list.

According to Fortune, "If it were a country, Wal-Mart's sales would rank it 28th in the world in gross domestic product, just behind Norway and ahead of Austria. The company today has around 11,000 stores in 27 countries and 2.2 million employees". The magazine added that it made it the world's largest employer after the US Department of Defense and the Chinese army.

Fortune said that Wal-Mart's No. 1 sales item is bananas; it sells 1 billion pounds a year. Wal-Mart will be holding its annual shareholders' meeting in Fayetteville. The presence of Wal-Mart in Northwest Arkansas greatly affects that region of the state and the state as one.