Digging it out of the ground
Six years ago, in Unleashing the Ideavirus, I wrote, ""Twenty years ago, the top 100 companies in the Fortune 500 either dug something out of the ground or turned a natural resource (iron ore or oil) into something you could hold." This statement was a little hyperbolic, but not by much.
Teena did some research and sent me numbers on the current state of the list. I sorted it by "Hold" stuff (like a can of Coke) and thought-value added businesses (like computers, pharma or stores). Here’s the breakdown:
Aerospace and Defense 7
Beverages 1
Chemicals 2
Food Consumer Products 1
Food Production 2
Forest & Paper Products 2
Household and Personal Products 2
Industrial & Farm Equipment 2
Metals 1
Motor Vehicles & Parts 4
Petroleum Refining 7
Pipelines 1
That’s 32% of the list. The rest, the majority, are companies that traffic in ideas, not stuff.
Commercial Banks 5
Computer Software 1
Computers, Office Equipment 3
Diversified Financials 2
Entertainment 3
Food & Drug Stores 5
General Merchandisers 4
Health Care 6
Insurance: Life, Health (mutual) 12
Mail, Package, Freight Delivery 2
Network and Other Communications Equipment 2
Pharmaceuticals 4
Savings Institutions 1
Securities 4
Semiconductors and Other Electronic Components 1
Specialty Retailers 4
Telecommunications 4
Wholesalers 5