New York, April 16, 2007 — FORTUNE announced today that Wal-Mart Stores holds the No. 1 spot on the FORTUNE 500 list, the annual list of America 's largest corporations according to revenue.  Wal-Mart regained the top spot posting an ll.2% increase in revenue to $351.1 billion and profits of $11.3 billion.  Right behind Wal-Mart is No. 2 Exxon Mobil with $347.3 billion in revenue and the largest profit in history, numbering $39.5 billion.  Big oil companies grabbed three of the top five spots with ConocoPhillips at No. 5, bumping Ford Motors to No. 7.  Rounding out the top ten on the list are: General Motors (No. 3); Chevron (No. 4); General Electric (No. 6); Citigroup (No. 8); Bank of America (No. 9); and American International Group (No. 10).  The list and related stories appear in the April 30 issue of FORTUNE, on newsstands April 23 and at www.CNNMoney.com on April 16.

FORTUNE editor at large Shawn Tully writes: ‘The notion of the little guy striking it rich—finding gold at Sutter's mill, discovering oil at Spindletop, or cashing in on a dot-com IPO in Silicon Valley—runs deep in American lore.  But something even more historic transpired in 2006: A massive swath of the established economy—also known as the FORTUNE 500—collectively generated unprecedented earnings.  The grand total: $785 billion, a 29% increase over 2005.  Those returns obliterated the previous cyclical peak, $444 billion, achieved in 2000 at the height of the tech explosion.  Put simply, American companies are enjoying the most sumptuously profitable period in the 500's 53-year history…These happy numbers are largely due to a sort of harmonious convergence, a perfect economic calm.  Virtually every conceivable force, from mild labor costs to a falling dollar to soaring productivity, has favored big companies.'

Key FORTUNE 500 findings and stats:

• There are 31 non-public companies on the FORTUNE 500: 16 mutual insurers, 13 private, two cooperatives – Private companies (including co-ops) that file a 10K with the SEC and mutual insurers are included because they file with a government agency.
• There are 12 female CEOs on the FORTUNE 500 (1-500) and 12 female CEOs on the second 500 (501-1000).
• There are seven African-American CEOs on the FORTUNE 500 (1-500) and three African-American CEOs on the second 500 (501-1000).
• Of the 74 industry groups on the FORTUNE 1,000, only two—Automotive Retailing, Services and Motor Vehicles and Parts—lost money in 2006.
• Fastest-growing industries by revenue growth in 2006 were Securities; Oil and Gas Equipment, Services; Internet Services and Retailing; Commercial Banks; and Engineering, Construction.
• Packaging and Containers industry rose from 45th to first in 1-year profit growth and the Internet sector went from first to 48th.
• Most profitable companies in 2006 were Exxon Mobil, UAL, Citigroup, Bank of America, and General Electric.
• Largest companies by market value were Exxon Mobil, General Electric, Microsoft, Citigroup, and AT&T.
• US Airways Group was the biggest gainer on the list moving up 208 spots to 216 and Avis Budget Group dropped the most on the list, falling 291 spots to 405.
• New York , with 57 headquarters, is back as the No. 1 state with the most FORTUNE 500 companies.  Texas (No. 2) is right behind with 56 headquarters, while California is No. 3 with 52 headquarters and Illinois (33) and Ohio (28) follow at No. 4 and No. 5.
• New York City has more than twice as many FORTUNE 500 companies than second-place Houston , with 45 and 22 headquarters, respectively.
• Overall FORTUNE 500 revenue increased 8.9% from 2005 to $9.9 trillion.
• Overall FORTUNE 500 profits increased 28.7% from 2005, to $785 billion.
• The effect of soaring productivity was dramatic: It took a mere 3.6% increase in the FORTUNE 500 workforce from 2000 to 2006 to generate a profit increase of almost 80%.
• The Westport, Connecticut-based company Terex (No. 314), a construction, transportation, and mining equipment maker, is the only FORTUNE 500 company to rank among the top 20 in total return to shareholders for the past, one, five, and ten years.