One of the unique elements of our Global 5000 database is the inclusion of private companies alongside the publics. Most popularly published lists (Fortune lists or Forbes Global 2000 for example) contain only public companies. We have over 1160 private companies as part of The Global 5000 representing $17 trillion in revenue – approximately 23% of the total market.
For marketers and those that manage ABM programs or their company’s CRM system, private companies are just as viable and just as large.
In some instances we see the Chinese government have control over these large state enterprises that are not traded publicly. They sit at the top of the list – but there is a real question as to whether or not they are a viable potential for any businesses outside of China. Some of the large energy traders in Europe are included on the list of large private companies.
In the US, Cargill is the largest private company with $185 billion in revenue. That puts them in the top 20 of US firms but they (and other private companies) are often overlooked because they are not on any “popular” lists.
Here’s the complex part of building out this data – private companies are private for a variety of reasons and among those are the desire to not tell others what they are doing. There is no reporting requirements like public companies have with the regulated authorities.
Some private companies announce some information, a few do report specific figures for sales / revenue or employees – but most do not.
This is where we put on our research hats and dig into various reports, announcements, news releases, articles, and industry publications for any information that can help us develop an informed opinion.
It is this ability to derive a reasonable effort that sets The Global 5000 apart from others who won’t venture forth.
One of the interesting aspects of tracking these firms is that eventually we do find figures for revenue and employees in nearly every case. It will happen when they file an IPO, get purchased, spin off a business line or acquire another company – somewhere along the line they publish some figures.
If you’d like to learn more about the private companies component of The Global 5000, let us know.