Fortune magazine’s listing of the world’s largest companies underscores how Chinese companies are surging ahead. These have been growing bigger and are rapidly spreading their operations across the globe. This change has been taking place over the last decade and a half.
For a couple of decades, American companies dominated the list of top global companies; General Motors, Chrysler and Ford Motors were at the top. The post-war boom in Europe and Japan also witnessed the spread of automobile volumes to these countries. Post-1971, the Arab countries gained control when petroleum crude registered a massive rise in prices. The American oil giants led by Exxon Mobil Corporation, followed by such large companies in other countries raced to the top of the global companies in terms of revenues.
Sam Walton’s Walmart, riding the retail wave, forged ahead of all other companies and has been at the top for years. Look at the changes
since 2000.
The top ten global corporations in the 2000 Fortune list had General Motors at the top, followed by Walmart. In that list, five companies were American, four Japanese and one German.
Ten years later, in 2010, Walmart led. China overtook others – of the top ten, three were Chinese – two each American and Japanese and one each from Britain and France. Five of the top ten companies handled oil and gas and one each retail, automotive, general trading, electric utility, and insurance businesses.
In 2018, the Chinese continued to surge ahead and occupied the second, fourth, and fifth positions. Oil and gas sectors continued to dominate – six out of ten are from this sector. With $ 514.40 billion, Walmart is at the top followed by the Sinopec group of China ($ 414.65 billion). Companies from the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Britain, Germany, and Japan find a place in the top ten lists.
In the top 100 companies, 35 are American and 23 Chinese. The American continent accounts for 40, Asia for 36 and Europe for 23.
Six Indian companies in the top 300
No Indian company finds a place in the top 100. Six of these are ranked in the top 300. Four of these deal with oil and gas. Reliance Industries with revenues of $ 82.33 billion is the largest of these and is ranked 106.
With the socialist indoctrination in the Congress era, there has been an aversion for wealth creation and large corporations.
The Prime Minister, in his Independence Day address, has been forthright in adverting wealth creation: “wealth creation is a great national service. Let us never see wealth creators with suspicion. Only when wealth is created, wealth will be distributed. Wealth creation is absolutely essential. Those who create wealth are India’s wealth and we respect them.”
Indian companies must grow in size. Communist China has breezily created multi-billionaires through large private companies that expand their activities, buying large companies and investing massively on ports, roads, and railway projects across the globe.
Size matters for efficiency and competitiveness.
