View All Best of BusinessCommunity Impact AwardsEntrepreneur of the YearFamily Business AwardsGreat WorkplacesHall of FameListsManufacturing Excellence AwardsMinnesota Business Hall of FameNotable HonoreesOutstanding DirectorsPerson of the YearSecrets of Success: Small BusinessThe TCB 100
Lists + Other

Minnesota Company Cracks Fortune 500 Top Ten For First Time In History

UnitedHealth was named one of the largest corporations in the U.S., as were 16 other Minnesota companies.
June 16, 2016
Minnesota Company Cracks Fortune 500 Top Ten For First Time In History

In the 61 years since its inception, no Minnesota company has cracked the top 10 of the Fortune 500—until this year.
 
UnitedHealth Group, the health insurance giant based in Minnetonka, ranked sixth with more than $157 billion in revenue last year. The company edged past CVS Health ($153 billion), General Motors ($152 billion), Ford Motor ($149 billion) and AT&T ($146 billion).
 
Previously, UnitedHealth placed 14th on the list.
 
Discount retailer Walmart remained in the top spot this year after posting $482 billion in revenue during 2015. The only other companies to out-place UnitedHealth were Exxon Mobil ($246 billion), Apple ($233 billion), Berkshire Hathaway ($210 billion) and pharmaceutical company McKesson ($181 billion).
 
UnitedHealth wasn’t alone on the list, though, with 16 other Minnesota companies joining them in the top 500. Those companies are:

Rank Name Headquarters Revenues (in billions)
38 Target Minneapolis $73.8
71 Best Buy Richfield $39.7
84 CHS Inver Grove Heights $34.6
93 3M Maplewood $30.3
131 U.S. Bancorp Minneapolis $21.5
160 Supervalu Eden Prairie $17.8
161 General Mills Golden Valley $17.6
206 Ecolab St. Paul $13.5
208 C.H. Robinson Worldwide Eden Prairie $13.5
215 Land O'Lakes Arden Hills $13.1
232 Ameriprise Financial Minneapolis $12.2
257 Xcel Energy Minneapolis $11
304 Hormel Foods Austin $9.3
316 Mosaic Plymouth $8.9
318 Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Minneapolis $8.7
465 St. Jude Medical Little Canada $5.5

This year’s list does not reflect the proposed $25 billion sale of St. Jude Medical to Illinois-based Abbott Laboratories. Assuming government regulators don’t kill the deal, Minnesota will lose a name on the list.
 
Several other companies with a heavy local presence—but maintain headquarters elsewhere—also made the list. Wells Fargo, which is headquartered in San Francisco, landed in the 27th spot with $90 billion in 2015 revenue. Also, Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines came in at number 68 with $40.7 billion in revenue.
 
One name missing from this year’s Fortune 500: Medtronic. The medical device company was removed from the 2015 list after its headquarters moved to Dublin last year. Last time around, it ranked 173rd on the list with $20.3 billion in revenue.
 
Minnesota companies in the Fortune 500 altogether represent about 3 percent of the U.S. GDP with $488 billion in revenues and more than 1 million workers worldwide.