Exxon-Mobil: No. 1 again, Obama talks

by Mark Silva

Here's something to think about before cranking up the Roadmaster for the Sunday family drive: Among the fabled Fortune 500 of American's largest companies, Exxon has unseated Wal-Mart as No. 1.

Exxon-Mobil has topped the Fortune 500 a dozen times in the history of the rankings. But Wal-Mart had held the No. 1 spot for six of the past seven years.

Exxon-Mobil's profits last year: $45 billion, on $442 billion in revenue -- 442, wasn't that a hot Olds one time?

Wal-Mart, at No. 2, recorded profits of just $13.4 billon on $405 billion in revenue.

For the Fortune 500 combined, last year brought the worst economic performance in its 55-year history: Earnings fell 84.7 percent from the previous year, from $645 billion to $98.9 billion, marking the largest one-year decline ever.

In an interview with Fortune, reporting in its new issue on the state of the 500, President Barack Obama addresses his own relationship with big business.

"I have always believed that our role as lawmakers is not to stifle the market, but to strengthen its ability to unleash creativity and innovation,'' Obama says.

"But I also have a responsibility to take aggressive action to avoid an even deeper recession and to move this nation toward recovery.

" History has shown repeatedly that when nations do not take early and aggressive action to get credit flowing again, they have crises that last for many years instead of many months. My hope is that by taking the steps we are taking today, from stabilizing our financial system to helping our auto industry restructure to become more competitive, it will help speed the day that the government can get out of the way and let the private sector do what it does best--innovate, create jobs, and grow the economy."