Fortune 500 Companies

326 Fortune 500 Companies Represented in Charlotte

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A major indicator of a city's economic strength and stability is the presence of Fortune 500 operations. The Fortune 500 list is compiled each year by Fortune magazine by ranking the annual revenues of large national and multinational corporations that are headquartered in the United States. Revenue does not have a direct relationship with profits or market value, but the list is a quantitative symbol of the scope, power, and size of a particular company.

The companies on the Fortune 500 list represent a broad range of industries and are usually diverse with partnerships and alliances from multiple business entities. It is no surprise that metro areas find it attractive to recruit these companies' headquarters due to the potential capital and labor investment and the extent of secondary investment. These headquarters also give global recognition to the city as a major center of business activity and contribute greatly to corporate giving for arts, education, and cultural amenities in an area.

Eight of the 500 companies are headquartered in Mecklenburg County.  This ranks Charlotte 5^th nationally in number of Fortune 500 companies headquartered within the county. These headquarters represent more than $231.6 billion in revenue for 2008. Lowe’s, which is headquartered in nearby Mooresville, increases the Charlotte area headquarters’ revenue to $279.9 billion. More importantly, 325 of the Fortune 500 companies have made a commitment to the city by placing one or more of their facilities within the county. This report lists a key representative of each of the Fortune companies that have a facility here. 

The research for this detailed report was conducted by referencing the 2008 Fortune 500 list to the 2007 Directory of Corporate Affiliations: U.S. Public Companies. The publication lists all major affiliates of public companies headquartered in the United States. Affiliates were then cross-referenced to the local telephone book and on-line directories to produce a list of Fortune 500 affiliates that were located in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County. The goal of this report was not to link all Fortune 500 companies in the area to their parent; it was to identify a major holding of the parent in the Charlotte market to insure their presence. Thus, all of the Fortune 500 affiliates that do business in Charlotte may not be listed in this report. Only those companies with major affiliates and clearly identified by a physical office or location within the Charlotte area are included. One major office for each identified Fortune 500 company was listed with an address and phone number. Any additional subsidiaries were listed by name and can be referenced to the local phone directory for further contact information.