Good morning. Companies earning a spot on the 2025 Fortune Global 500 demonstrated significant momentum this year—including those in the financial sector.
The corporations on this year’s list, released this week, combined to generate $41.7 trillion in revenue in 2024, up 1.8% from the previous year. Together, they employ 70.1 million people, and their revenue represents more than one-third of the world’s GDP.
For the 12th consecutive year—and the 20th time since 1995—Walmart is No. 1 on the list. The ranking showed a dominant presence of U.S. companies (138). The U.S. remains ahead of Greater China, which has 130 companies (down three from last year). You can view the complete list here.
Overall, the Global 500 earned $2.98 trillion in profit in its second-most-profitable year ever—and $1 trillion of that was generated by finance companies. Landing at No. 10 is Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, the leader in the financial sector.
Also notable: several companies in the financial sector made large advances on this year’s list.
The CFOs of U.S.-based companies BNY and Prudential Financial shared with me what’s driving the momentum:
Yanela Frias, EVP and CFO of Prudential Financial (No. 192, up 74 spots): “We have seen strong momentum across our market-leading insurance, retirement, and asset management businesses. Our unique combination of global scale, distribution power, brand, and talent sets us apart as we serve 50 million customers worldwide. We are also finding new ways to serve our customers as their needs continue to evolve.
“With more people getting older and facing shifting retirement systems, we are committed to offering flexible retirement solutions that provide protected savings and income strategies to help people live better lives, longer. And, as investors seek a broad range of investment products like private credit and alternatives, we have unified PGIM’s multi-manager model into a single asset management business, including a $1 trillion private and public credit platform. To deliver even stronger performance, we are evolving our strategy, improving execution, and building a high-performing culture.”
Dermot McDonogh, CFO of BNY (No. 389, up 77 spots): “We’re hitting our stride in BNY’s transformation and firing on all cylinders. We’ve built a more connected, agile organization—one that’s breaking down silos and working more closely with clients than ever before. As a company that sits at the center of the global financial system, we have a unique opportunity to help our clients navigate change, unlock opportunity, and operate with greater confidence.
“Our investments in talent, culture, and technology like AI are making us sharper, faster, and more resilient. We’re proud of how far we’ve come, recognize there’s more runway ahead, and focused on continuing to raise the bar.”
Have a good weekend.
Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com
