Years ago, as The Global 5000 database was being built, we researched every list of companies we could find. At the time (and it continues to this day) the big names most often mentioned were the Fortune 500 and the Forbes list of private companies. Each year, both Fortune and Forbes publish these and related lists with updated information for the latest fiscal years.  We regularly use those lists to match and compare against The Global 5000 to make sure we are not over-looking any obvious companies in our research.

Here is a listing of the main lists we review to match up with The Global 5000 and what portions of the market they focus on.  The Global 5000 is a unique database as it includes all countries and both public as well as private companies across all industries.

Next come a long list of industry associations and trade publications that publish “top lists”. These are not always top based on revenue. Rather they reflect the products of their respective industries.  These often contain divisions or product lines of larger companies. These industry focused lists also become part of the process.

Finally, there are country lists noting the largest companies in various countries. These are published by various local business publications and newspaper organizations. Most often they show the in-country operations of larger companies. A number of these will show largest employers in the country so some research work has to be completed to match these lists and use what is applicable.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *