The 72nd annual Fortune 500 list, released this month, marks a historic shift in the American corporate landscape: Amazon has officially dethroned Walmart as the nation’s largest company by revenue, ending the retail giant’s 13-year reign at the No. 1 spot.
Amazon’s ascent to the top of the 2026 ranking is powered by a 12% year-over-year revenue growth, bringing its annual intake to $717 billion. Walmart, now ranked No. 2 with $713 billion, remains the leader in physical retail, but the rankings highlight a broader transition as e-commerce, cloud computing, and AI-driven infrastructure continue to reshape the economy.
The top five companies on the 2026 Fortune 500 list are:
- Amazon ($717B)
- Walmart ($713B)
- UnitedHealth Group ($448B)
- Apple ($416B)
- Alphabet ($403B)
Collectively, the Fortune 500 companies generated a record $21 trillion in revenue this year, representing two-thirds of the U.S. GDP.
Despite shifting national rankings, New Jersey maintains a robust corporate footprint. For 2026, 15 companies from the Garden State were named to the Fortune 500, holding steady with the 2025 count and marking an increase from 14 in 2024.
Johnson & Johnson remains the state’s highest-ranked company, landing at No. 42 with $94.2 billion in revenue—a $6 billion increase over the previous year.
New Jersey’s 2026 Fortune 500 Companies:
- 42: Johnson & Johnson (New Brunswick)
- 66: Merck (Rahway)
- 74: Prudential Financial (Newark)
- 96: Bristol-Myers Squibb (Princeton)
- 150: PBF Energy (Parsippany)
- 203: Becton Dickinson (Franklin Lakes)
- 211: Cognizant (Teaneck)
- 213: Automatic Data Processing (Roseland)
- 295: Kenvue (Summit)
- 355: Public Service Enterprise Group (Newark)
- 372: Avis Budget Group (Parsippany)
- 375: Burlington Stores (Burlington)
- 384: Quest Diagnostics (Secaucus)
- 404: Campbell Soup Co. (Camden)
- 423: Zoetis (Parsippany)
Beyond the headline rankings, the 2026 list underscores a significant trend in corporate efficiency. While total revenue for the Fortune 500 climbed 5% to $21 trillion, total employment across these firms fell to 30.5 million, a decrease of over 300,000 jobs. Experts attribute this, in part, to technological advancements and the increasing role of AI, which have enabled firms to reach higher scales of revenue with leaner workforces.
