world's largest corporations

1.Wal-Mart Stores Rank: 1 CEO: Michael T. Duke Employees: 2,100,000 Address: 702 S.W. Eighth St. Bentonville, Arkansas 72716 Country: U.S. Website: www.walmartstores.com Wal-Mart Stores maintains its perch atop the corporate ladder, taking the top spot on this year's Fortune's 500 and Global 500 lists, both for the second year in a row. A company that big makes big headlines, both good and bad. For example, Wal-Mart continues to receive credit for its role as a leader in corporate sustainability. The company launched its "Sustainability Index" in 2009 in an effort to assume accountability for its products' origins and to make that information transparent to customers. But Wal-mart has also been in the spotlight this year for a gender discrimination suit involving 1.5 million of its current and former female employees. The Supreme Court threw the case out on the grounds that the women couldn't pursue it as a single class, but the retail giant will likely have to face these claims in smaller groups in the months and years to come. And while Wal-Mart may be the biggest company in the world, it has suffered from a sales slump back home: U.S. same-store sales have declined for eight straight quarters 2.Royal Dutch Shell Rank: 2 (Previous rank: 2) CEO: Peter R. Voser Employees: 97,000 Address: Carel van Bylandtlaan 30 The Hague 2596 Country: Netherlands Website: www.shell.com Royal Dutch Shell's earnings were up 61% in 2010 from the previous year, with $20.5 billion in income for the year. And its stock has performed well (it's up 7.2% year-to-date). As access to oil gets tighter, Shell is looking to beef up its alternative energy assets. In 2010, it signed an agreement with a Brazilian biofuel company called Cosan that makes ethanol from sugarcane. Shell is also developing technology to build the first floating, liquefied natural gas plant, which should give the company an edge over the competition when it comes to accessing fuel in deep water. Indeed, deepwater energy will be critical for Shell, which signed off on new drilling projects in the Gulf of Mexico and off the coast of Brazil. 3. Exxon Mobil Rank: 3 (Previous rank: 3) CEO: Rex W. Tillerson Employees: 103,700 Address: 5959 Las Colinas Blvd. Irving, Texas 75039 Country: U.S. Website: www.exxonmobil.com Like all of the oil majors, ExxonMobil has had to weather a highly volatile year. Nevertheless, Exxon continues to perform well: the company's 2010 net earnings grew 57% from the previous year to $30.5 billion. To prepare for future volatility in the global energy market, Exxon is adjusting to growing demand for all different types of energy, CEO Rex Tillerson said during the company's annual shareholder meeting in May. Tillerson said that Exxon plans to put more of its money in alternative fuels, most notably natural gas. "Natural gas will be the fastest growing major energy source and will overtake coal as the second largest global energy source behind only oil," Tillerson said 4. BP

Rank: 4 (Previous rank: 4) CEO: Robert W. Dudley Employees: 79,700 Address: 1 St. James Sq. London SW1Y 4PD Country: Britain Website: www.bp.com Not even the past year's massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico can really sink BP. BP has said it would raise $30 billion to pay for the claims following the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig, and the company has shucked assets throughout the year to do so. BP's Arctic exploration deal with Russian company Rosneft was supposed to be the company's big comeback since the spill, but the deal has been blocked by one of BP's other Russian partners, TNK-BP, because of alleged competing interests. Still, BP likely has the capacity to raise the cash it needs to meet its $30 billion goal. Looking forward, the company has oil plays in the Middle East and oil sands development in Canada in the works. BP says it plans to launch a total of 32 new projects between 2010 and 2016