Wal-Mart tops global Fortune 500, edges out Shell

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. owns the Fortune 500 market.

The Arkansas-based retailer climbed atop the Global 500 just released by Fortune, edging out Anglo-Dutch oil and natural gas company Royal Dutch Shell.

Wal-Mart also sits in the No. 1 position among the 2014 Fortune 500 rankings of U.S. companies.

With operations in 26 countries, Wal-Mart recorded a 4.6 percent increase in overseas sales last year to $140.9 billion, according to CBS News. Under CEO Doug McMillon, the reatiler is ratcheting up its presence outside the United States, with plans to add as many as 116 new stores in China by 2016 and open as many as 50 new wholesale stores in Canada and India over the next five years.

Fortune’s global report indicates global business is back: Combined revenues are up 2.5 percent from 2012 to $31.1 trillion, and profits soared 27 percent to nearly $2 trillion, Fortune said. The United States has fewer companies on the 2014 Global 500 but remains the country leader with 128 corporations, representing $8.6 trillion in revenues.
 
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